I'm just an immortal living my life as a youthful teenager
by AK-103
Summary: Gonna rewrite this baby, see latest chappie for details. Story's marked as completed and will NOT be deleted.
1. Meeting the Ice Queen

Don't ask me how I end up in modern day Japan, because the last time I tell someone that I'm a ninja capable creating orbs of destruction the size of planets, they threatened to send me off to the nearest mental ward in Chiba. Yes, before any of you ask, I am indeed a ninja capable of creating orbs of destruction in the size of planets, but I don't that anymore because there's really no point in doing so. My time, the time of the ninjas, has long lost its name; there's not even a single hint of it anywhere in the history books. Time has changed a lot of things, including me too.

But I can assure you that deep inside, I am still Uzumaki Naruto, the orange wearing dude that has this **definitely** healthy ramen addiction. So what changed? Well… aside from the fact that I can't die, there's really nothing else. What, surprised? Yes, I can't die and it's not my decision to make when this curse was laid on me. When my people defeated Kaguya and every single one of her peons, we weren't expecting the final attack that the rabbit goddess had in store for us. She used it as a last resort of some kind, something that will activate when she's defeated.

Now I can't exactly remember what happened, because I prefer not to remember the extinction of my kind, but everything was just… gone. They ceased to exist. However, I was the only one that remained. I found myself to be the last living shinobi on the nation and there was no one else that could use chakra. All of my friends, comrades, allies… they were all gone because of some freaky elimination technique that Kaguya did. She must have been desperate to use something like that, she did just end the lives of the people that bore her gift, the gift of chakra.

Then, 'how are you still alive' you might ask… well, that's exactly it, I don't fucking know.

I don't know if it's Kaguya's way of saying 'haha fuck you, you're alone in the whole world now' or maybe the woman was really, really desperate in trying to kill everyone or was it by pure accident that she missed me… I will never know. Then how does the whole immortality thing fits in all of this? Well, to put it simply, I tried to commit suicide the moment I realize that there's nothing I could do to return my friends back but of course, it failed because I did not die. Oh, I forgot to mention, it seems that Kaguya erased everything that was chakra because Kurama was also gone, as well as the rest of his siblings.

So, yeah, one hell of a way to end the world.

It's safe to say that I'm veeeeeeeeeeeeery old. I watched as people rebuild their society over time, building new nations and countries. I have a hand in making the world into what it is today. An example would be the fact that there are more than just one continents in this world. Yes, I caused the breaking off of continents. Now don't blame me, it was accident. I was trying to see how much control I have over Earth elements and I didn't know that it would result in the breaking off continents. I may have been guilty of that, but I am not responsible for the idiots that the world produce.

While it's true that I slept with many women, and they may or may not have had my children, I can assure you that Hitler is not my son. I would never want to have a son with a weird mustache like that.

Anyway, that's my pre-historic experience, or is it pre-pre-historic experience because dinosaurs existed because I tried to do summoning without any contracts? Oh yeah, speaking of dinosaurs, I didn't know that being huge kills you. Maybe that's the reason why gravity is not so strong in Mount Myoboku, because otherwise, the toads over there would have died already. When Kaguya… 'took away' everything that has chakra, I really mean it. Right now, I can't really gather chakra anymore so I'm on a limited supply. I can still try to gather chakra from whatever's left and still exist in this world, but even so, it'll take me a while to even replenish a quarter of my chakra capacity. Strangely though, when Kaguya took Kurama, a being made out of chakra, she didn't take him at all.

She just took the consciousness but Kurama's chakra remains in me so basically… I'm currently running at ninety three percent of my normal chakra and Kurama's entire consciousness-less being inside of me. Yeah, it's safe to say that I'm not a normal human by today's standard. I intend to keep my status as a ninja or even chakra's existence as a secret, which is why I refrain on doing too many things with it. Really, I only use chakra for things like… what, genjutsu, henge and making campfire when I'm out camping? That's just about it really, but even so, I still have a LOT of chakra to spare.

I've been living for god knows how long and I haven't even lose a percent of my own original chakra. And there's also the fact that I'm immortal. Sadly though, I can't age, I'm stuck being in my teen self forever. I can use henge though, but even so, they're not permanent. I can pull genjutsu, something I sometimes do every now and then, to manipulate my surroundings as well as people, but I stopped doing it as a form of amusement when I nearly got caught for being a Satanic worshipper during the middle ages.

Yeah… those were the times…

Regardless, none of that matters now. Now… I'm living a completely different life yet with the same live that I have many, many years ago. There are no bad guys to kill, goddesses to kill or Madara to train to defeat… now, there is just me and my current life as a high school student in a school in Japan's Chiba prefecture.

Yeah…

That's who I am now.

Uzumaki Naruto, a sixteen year old high school student in a school in Chiba… and apparently, one of the most unpopular guys ever.

"Hey Uzumaki, you got anything to do today?"

"Hm? Nah, I don't. But I don't feel like doing anything today so shoo."

"Tche… see, this is why you don't have friends Uzumaki. Anyway, we'll go to the karaoke place in town, come join us if you're lonely."

"For the record I am alone, but just because I'm alone doesn't mean I'm lonely." Is that an example of oxymoron? I'll never know. "But thanks, maybe I'll join."

"Yeah, see ya' later!"

Uzumaki Naruto, former shinobi of the Hidden Leaf Village, Child of Prophecy, the Second Toad Sage of Mount Myoboku, the son of Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina, a Hero… but none of those matters now, because I am just Uzumaki Naruto. A second year high school student who writes porn for a living and I apparently make a lot of cash from doing so, so, props for me. :P

* * *

Now that I think about it… after all this time… I never really have any solid girlfriends. Now don't give me that look, okay, now you're just being mean. But yeah, I never really have any real girlfriends despite the long life I've been living. All of the women that I copulate with are just lonely women who needed the comfort and embrace of a man and fortunately for them, and me, I was there to provide.

You're looking at me like I'm some sort of sexual predator but really, it's not like I actively indulge myself in that kind of lustful urge. I am not the type of person to sink that low, that's what Ero-sennin would do if he was in my case. Even so, I have to admit, I would like to experience having a girlfriend once in a while.

Contrary to what you might think about me, I'm actually picky about what type of girl that I like. Yes, now don't look even more surprised, even I have preference. I do not remember why I like Sakura-chan, but it probably has something to do with her hair so… yes, I am the type of person who judge a girl based on their hair first and personality third. The second one has to be their looks, come on, I'll admit that I'm guilty of choosing people by their looks.

Now I don't want to sound like I'm a narcissistic asshole, but I am pretty good looking. Again, stop giving me that look and don't throw up on the dam keyboard!

Aw, look at what you did! You make me break the fourth wall… sheesh… now we have to wait until it's finished repairing! Haaaah… I guess I'll just sit here while I leave that to the author.

A moment later…

There we go, now where was I… oh yeah, based on what I've heard from the gossips that the girls have been circulating around, I'm actually a pretty good looking person. I can't exactly figure out which part of me is good looking, but I guess it has something to do with my eyes and hair. It's obvious that your standard Japanese does not have blonde hair or blue eyes and I obviously stick out like a sore thumb amongst the crowd. Whether it's the height, complexion, hair or eyes… I have always been mistaken as either an American or British person. I can't blame them for that. I remember my classmate's reaction when I first transferred here. They were so hilarious trying to speak English, or _Engrish_ , in their case.

And before you ask, yes, I am fluent at English; I did spend most of my time travelling the world.

I'm getting sidetracked here… anyway, I really think that it'd be great to at least get a girlfriend once, maybe even get into a legitimate relationship. Though… I know it's going to be hard the moment she dies, I still think that I at lease deserve a real relationship, not those one night stands that I've been getting for the past centuries. But there's one huge problem here…

Even though I'm considered as one of best looking boy in school, the same does not go for my attitude.

"Oi, Uzumaki, mind telling me what this piece of crap is?" if it weren't for the fact that she's hot, I'd slap her for giving me that angry look.

"Hm? That's a paper, sensei, don't tell me that you don't know what it is-."

 **SLAM**

That's the sound of her fist hitting the desk, uwaaah, I made her mad.

"Don't joke with me, Uzumaki… I'm referring to the writings on this piece of paper, it's so repulsive it must've been the reason why I wasn't able to tell that this is a paper from a single glance." Ah, touché. She wore heels, thigh highs, a shirt, a black vest over it, a tie and a lab coat. Despite the coat, she's not a professor of some sort. Hell, I'm not even sure why she's a teacher!

"I asked you to write an essay about your experience in high school, so pray tell why it turned into something like this?" she lifted the paper up to my face, as if she's trying to prove her point. On the paper was at least half a chapter worth of content that you'd normally find in my books. "I do not know why you didn't write an essay like I told you to do but I'm more boggled at the fact that you just wrote porn in one of my subject's worksheet!"

I glared at her, looking insulted. "Hey, this is fine literature, you should be praising me for writing this well." I smirked, allowing her to see it. "Besides, I know that you're not going to throw it, for all I care, you'd be pocketing that inside your coat and read it tonight while your hand is busy do-"

Uwah, I nearly got my head blown off from my neck. A red faced Hiratsuka-sensei just raised her hand at her own student! She should be fired because of this! Hello?! Teachers?!

"I-I-In any case…" I find her stuttering somewhat adorable, to a certain degree. "I can't tolerate you for writing NSFW material for school work, it's punishable by the school's rule." I highly doubt that because, as far as us students know, there was no specific rule stating that you couldn't write art for your school work. But she's right about that NSFW part though.

"No, no, can we get to the fact that you did not deny what I just say about the probability that you'll mastu-" she sent me a glare that could even make Madara gulp. "Okay, I got it, I'll rewrite it, Hirutsuka-sensei." I offer her my sincerest form of apology by bowing; even then I know that she knows that I'm bluffing.

"Hm…" she got a particular look in her eyes.

Oh no, this is not good for me.

"I think I just got the right punishment for you."

I don't like the way you're smiling, woman!

* * *

So I have a little something that I need to admit… I may, or may not, have an attraction towards Hiratsuka-sensei. I mean can you blame me? The woman is beautiful, she's beautiful to a point where I am confused why she's not dating someone yet. Maybe she dated people before, but I don't know. Despite our… eh… unique relationship, I don't really know her that much. I know that she is almost thirty and that she gets irritated easily when we're talking about age or relationship statuses. But can you blame me for not knowing? As much as I want to get to know her better, way more than a student should ever get, I can't bring myself to open that door.

…okay, call me a wuss or pussy or whatever, but I'm merely being considerate here.

Unlike in Konoha, where it's… not strange but not really common to date your or get in a relationship with your Jonin sensei or mentor, it's a problem in today's society and Japan especially. Japanese people to the rest of world has a reputation of being prudes or at least private when it comes to romantic relationship, not to mention that there is also the stereotypical strict and 'say-no-to-strangers' reputation that Asian people are mostly known for to have. And let me tell you, not all Asians are like that, gosh. I mean, when I think about it, I was raised by a bunch of Asians! My best friend's Asian, hell my teacher, friends and everyone I know back during my younger days were Asians!

Maybe not the guys from Kumo though, no racist.

Anyway, so, yeah, getting in a relationship with Hiratsuka-sensei is a no-no for now since I am still a student in a school that she teaches in. If, let's say IF, I can get in a relationship with Hiratsuka-sensei, it'll be something that we both have to keep secret because the last time I check fraternizing with your teacher could get the both of you kicked out of school and a bed reputation for the rest of your life. I can easily accept that, but I'm not sure that Hiratsuka-sensei could. She's a normal person, she has family and friends that she still have her attachments with and I don't think that she's willing to go with me and leave them behind. And I'm not about to take these things from her.

…and that's one reason why I don't have a girlfriend.

So for the entire duration of our walk, I have been only thinking to myself. I also notice that we're taking quite a while to reach wherever it is that Hiratsuka-sensei is bringing me to. I'm not sure if I have ever been to this part of the school, seems like we're in a completely different section where the rooms are used for nothing other than club rooms. Yes, this school is pretty big and they have too much room so they have no other choice but to leave them empty or use them for club rooms, which is pretty rad if I do say so myself.

I'm not complaining that she's taking a while leading me though. As far as I'm concerned, there is no male student who's not happy when they're taken away by a beautiful adult teacher and ditching second period at the same time, and as far as my concern goes, most people would like it that way. Every day.

But we eventually reach the destination of Hiratsuka-sensei and it's one of the club rooms. She opens the door and I have to shield my eyes because of the light and the wind that hit me. Inside the room is somebody I never thought I'd meet in such a close proximity.

The moment I see her face I instantly know who she is. Her hair, her eyes and even the way she sits – no, I am not her stalker, it's just that she's hard to miss when you see her sometimes in the cafeteria waiting for her food – I know who she is.

She's in International Education Class-J, famous for being filled with girls that makes up about ninety percent of the class. The class is known for being filled with brilliant minds and academic achievements above the national average. This girl, she stands out the most out of all of them.

Yukinoshita Yukino.

Hmm… did I get correctly? Everyone in this school knows her, but apparently, I may or may not have forgotten her name.

I return back to reality and notice the glare she's leveling at me. I give her confused look, but not speaking or anything. Her face is a mix between disgust and suspicion, a face that most girls would make when seeing me for the first time.

Yes, I know I'm sad.

"He's looking to join the club." I hear Hiratsuka-sensei say to Yukinoshita.

I must have wandered in too deep in my own thoughts to notice that they were talking before. Whatever conversation they have, I miss them out.

Seeing as how I have no way out this and she'll pretty much give me things that are WAY worse if I go against her… I decide to surrender.

"Class 2-F's Uzumaki Naruto, nice to meet'cha." I give the book reading girl a playful salute.

Uwaah… her glare becomes worse. Did I do something to offend her? Am I so intimidating that she's giving me that look? Really, the only ones that pull that kind of look on me are the police officers from the station down the street and that's saying a lot about paranoia. Do I really look like an apex sexual predator in the eyes of women or something?!

"Hey, are you sure that you're not trying to kill me?"

"I'm not, but I won't promise that she wouldn't." well, I'm screwed. "It's because you decided to pull out something as retarded as writing porn for one of my essays. I won't accept anything less than this."

I take offense to that. "It's _fine literature_ , not _porn_." For the very first time in my life as a high school student in this school, I make a seriously annoyed face. "Don't lump my work with the rest of the crap they're selling in the adult section of bookstores all over Japan. That makes me insulted to a point where I want to go space without any supply of oxygen."

"Anyway,"

She ignored me! Oi!

"As you can see, his looks are just as dangerous as his works and attitude." I can see Yukinoshita nodding her head and it's killing me inside. "And as a result, he's like this." what do you mean _'like this'_ , huh? "Please try your best to fix his predatory and rotten attitude, since I worry for the wellbeing of the females in this school, that's my request."

"Oi." Oi.

"I humbly refuse."

How can you say the word 'humble' while making a disgusted face like that, Yukinoshita-san?

Now she's hugging herself in a defensive manner. "I do not have to see to know the dangerous and unspeakable things he might do to me if we are alone in this room. And what do you mean the wellbeing of the females in this school? It's hypocritical if you're putting me in the same room with that…"

Oh, so I'm so repulsive that you resulted in referring to me as _'that'_ , huh? Well, good to know. And for your information princess, I am not looking at you and I'm not looking at the Great Wall of Japan that is your mammaries either.

Wait, did I just do that? Damn I'm savage.

"Don't worry, despite his looks and attitude, he won't do anything to you." Hiratsuka-sensei said to her. "He'll probably leer at you every now and then, but that's all he'll do. If he does try anything, you have my permission to mace him."

And who are you to me to allow her to do that to me?

"No, can we please stop talking as if I am some sort of molester who does his deed in the middle of broad daylight?" unfortunately, I am ignored.

Yukinoshita looks like she's considering Hiratsuka-sensei's suggestion of macing me. "Mace… huh… I only have a tazer at home…"

That is also scary in a way. Seriously, does this girl seriously carry around a tazer whenever she leaves home? Is her common everyday occurrence involves unfortunate meetings with perverts and exhibitionists? If so then I feel both sorry and the people she encounters, mostly for the people. With her Ice Queen like persona and airs she's pulling off, I know that Yukinoshita is not the most sociable of persons. I at least talk to people from time to time, they just don't approach me as often as the police do.

"Anyway, please do try your best to fix this person's attitude. You have my permission to hit him from time to time."

Again, who exactly are you to decide that for her?

Hiratsuka-sensei leaves the room, leaving the both of us here alone. I'm not dumb and I'm a ninja, I know that she's just standing behind the door to listen in to us. I can do two things here, and I'm sure that neither will make me look better in Yukinoshita's eyes. One, I can approach her friendlily and get to know her like any normal person would do, but that'll probably end up with me at the receiving end of 50000 volts of electricity that may not be able to knock me down but is still annoying because of the sensation of being electrocuted.

Or I can just grab a seat and not to talk and see where there goes.

Oooor… I can just use genjutsu and make her like me in an instant.

"What are you doing standing over there like an idiot? Grab a seat and sit down, you're ruining my atmosphere by the amount of space you're taking up by standing."

…yeah, I'll do the second one.

So I take a seat from one of the many stacked chairs arranged at the back of the class. I place my seat far away from hers, because I do not want to offend her by merely being close to her. I feel she's already offended by the fact that I'm breathing the same air as her… but who knows.

So with nothing to do or talk about, I naturally look around the empty classroom, casting my attention over things like the ceiling, windows, floors and the door.

This action has somehow annoyed Yukinoshita.

"Got something to say to me?" I can taste the masked irritation in her voice. And I find it delicious yet annoying at the same time.

"Oh, no." I say with an air of my own. "Aside from the fact that I'm bored, I got nothing to say at all." That triggered something in her, and I know what it is, more annoyance. "Anyway, that aside, just what is this club?"

"Why don't we play a game of 'guess what club this is' then? You guess what this club is and if you guessed it correctly, you get nothing."

It's amazing how she's able to say all of this without breaking that stone cold expression she has, it triggers my own instinct of wanting to break it down even more.

"Alright, I'll play." I'll humor her and I'm also curious about it anyway. "Is this the literature club?"

She raised an eyebrow. "Oh, what makes you say that?"

"There's nothing but chairs and tables, they're all placed aside too to allow space in the middle. And you've been reading that book as we're speaking right now, something that's considered to be rude by most people." I see the blank look in her eyes. "Yes, even me…"

"Oh, I wasn't aware that you consider yourself to be 'most people'. And you're wrong, this is not the literature club." She says, playing with the tone a little. I've seen that look before and I've seen it on the mirror every time.

"Hm, then what is this club?" I give up. I can't handle her sassiness and sarcasm, it's like fighting with a colder and even more cynical version of myself.

"I'll give you a clue then." She says, as an attempt to lift up my spirits. "What I'm doing now is considered as this club's activity."

Wow, such clue, much help.

I sigh. Apparently, no matter how many years have passed, I still don't have the patience for certain things. "I give up, I got no clue."

"Before I do tell you, let me ask you a question, Uzumaki-kun." Kun? She's calling me Kun? Well ain't that nice and sweet of her? I swear… at least show a little bit more emotion when saying that… "When was the last time you talked to a girl?"

Hm? What does she mean by that? Obviously I just talked to her a few seconds ago, is she so smart that she's dumb or something? But I get her meaning, she obviously means talking to a girl who's a school mate. Well…

* * *

 **Naruto three years ago in second year of middle school**

* * *

 _It was in my classroom, during lunch. Being the loner I was and still am, I sit by myself with no friends nearby. Then, I heard a girl's voice talking._

" _Aw it's so hot today… don't you think so too?" I heard her speak in the friendliest way that a girl my age had ever talked to me in. I remembered being sleepy that time, so I must've answered in a blunder._

" _Eh, ah, yeah I guess…" I remember yawning, whipping my hair to get some of it off my eyes._

" _Eh… ah…" the girl shied away from her seat, almost shrinking down while lowering her head in what I can only assume to be embarrassment. I swear I saw her face going red, but that's probably the heat. Then I realized that there was also a girl on my back. So she was talking to her._ _ **(1)**_

* * *

Until this day… that is still one of the most embarrassing moments of my long life, the first one is that accidental kiss with Sasuke, yuck.

"Eh… can't say I remember, but anyway, what does that have to do with the identity of this club?"

Why are you sighing as if you've heard the world's dumbest question ever, Yukinoshita-san? "This world consists of people who help and those who don't. We, as a member of this club, are one of those who help. Be it for rewards or none, it's our job as a volunteer to help other people who need us regardless of how small or tedious the problem is."

She levels a deep stare at me.

"Welcome to the Service Club Uzumaki-kun, I thank you for joining. I've been asked to help you, and help you I shall." I just stared at her throughout the duration of her speech and borderline ranting.

"Yeeeeaaah." I nod slowly. "You're… welcome?"

"Hm, at least you're educated enough to know some manners."

"Bitch." You know what grinds my gears? People like Sasuke. And Yukinoshita over here is taking over his spot pretty well. I've been roaming the world for the past few… I don't know, millennia or something, and I've met people who have done enough things for me to label them an asshole.

Today, Yukinoshita is on that list.

"I'm more than capable of taking care of myself." I made my tone slightly louder than what it normally is. She really needs to hear it. "I appreciate Hiratsuki-sensei's effort of bringing me here so that she could make you 'fix' up my quote on quote rotten attitude. But I don't need help from a hypocrite who couldn't do the same thing. I don't need another person who's stuck up with a foot long pole up her ass to help me."

It doesn't stop there.

"And for your information, I am not helpless. I just chose not to help myself. I ranked second in English and first in Modern Literature; hell I scored the nationals in that second one!" I am obviously not pouting, I just refuse to see Yukinoshita in the eyes. "Even if my relationship status contradicts my looks, it just means that I have more important stuff to do rather than dating."

For the record, I am only kidding about that last part, pleaseIneedagirlfriend.

"How you say that with such confidence is a merit in its own rights. You're a terrible person, aren't you, Uzumaki-kun?"

This girl…

"I don't want to hear it from someone like you." I mutter with a little amount of hate. Why am I here, why can't Hiratsuka-sensei just give me another essay to write? At least that way I can spend my whole day writing down erotica for her to use tonight as a side dish.

"Based on your words and action, I can say that the reason why you are a loner is due to your personality and attitude." I'd do anything to wipe that smirk off her face. "Secondly, though appearance is highly subjective, the fact that you dyed your ha-"

"Oi. I'm a natural blonde."

"Oh…"

Why does she look so surprised? This is not my first time being mistaken as someone who has dyed his hair either…

"Ahem." She coughs as an attempt to correct herself. "In any case, I can say that your appearance also plays a part in your current loner status. Though it is better than that of a small imp like being who thinks that everything is precious to him."

"I'm not motherfucking Gollum."

Again, she looks surprised.

"Oh, I wasn't aware that you're into movies."

"No, no, I'm the one who should be making that statement." Yukinoshita looks like a person who prefers book rather than movies after all; I can't believe she watched The Lord of The Rings.

"Well, at least your height and face isn't that of Gollum's or a Hobbit."

"Oi!"

She makes this smug expression while she flips her hair back. "In any case, there goes our practice conversation."

"Huh?" Huh?

"I was trying to see if you're capable of making conversations with people. You did good, even if it's probably your first serious conversation."

The things we talked about are barely serious! And like hell it is!

"After all, if you can talk to me, you can surely talk to other people as well, do you feel better?"

"Like hell I do. Just so you know, I can hold conversations with other people perfectly. I just don't talk to people who asks stupid questions or people who wants something done just because they knew me." I think I need a good drink after this. Good thing I stocked some booze in my apartment.

And stop sighing already! What are you, forty?! "Looks like you're in need of a change; otherwise it may be a danger to society."

Suddenly, we are interrupted by someone who totally hasn't been eavesdropping on our entire conversation from start to finish. "Yukinoshita, I'm coming in."

"Please knock every time you enter sensei…" at least I can agree about that.

"Sorry, sorry; force of habit." She looks at me. "Looks like you're having trouble with Uzumaki."

"How can I not when he himself does not know that he has troubles?" I don't like the way she's looking at me. And I'm serious about it.

"Don't you dare preach like that." I'm annoyed and mad. "I admit that I may have problems, but what that problem is, is entirely up to me to reveal or not. I don't need someone to talk to, because I believe that my problem does not concern them. I don't need someone trying to fix my problems, because I know that they can't. I don't need someone telling me that I should change, because I've been through it."

I'm ranting at this point.

"And the result of that change… well, you can clearly see him right before your very eyes."

I don't need someone to tell me what to do either. Who are they, my mom?

"Besides, it will feel even better if you can solve all of your problems yourself. Sure, it's hard, sure it's fucking painful to do so; but the fact that you don't have to get people involved with the shit that you have clean is better than letting them sink their hands into that pile of shit and have them live the rest of their lives covered in **your** shit."

I make both Yukinoshita and Hiratsuka-sensei flinch from the sheer tone of my voice.

I must have lost myself there, I don't realize that my tone holds that much venom.

I can only let it off with a cough.

"A-Anyway…" Hiratsuka-sensei starts in a placating manner, drawing distance between me and Yukinoshita. "There is a reason why I put people in this club." I guess that she's referring to me here. "If I see people who seem troubled, I'll bring them here."

Again with this troubled bullshit…

"However, this is also a good chance to see who'll be able to solve troubles better!" she declares her true intentions all along.

Of course Hiratsuka-sensei… of course.

By then, she must have already notices the look I'm making. "Don't give me that face Uzumaki, think of this as solution for you, regardless of the effects. Trust me, you'll gain something from this."

"Something bad…"

"What was that?"

"Nothing." Damn women and their sharp hearing…

"Anyway, in this club, you'll have to compete in a contest to see who can serve better than the other!" Hiratsuka does the 'MY DRILL WILL PIERCE THE HEAVENS' pose as she declares the next line, "The winner can order the loser to do anything they want. How's that?"

Hm… Yukinoshita's lucky that I prefer my girls older, otherwise I might have just fallen for that one win condition. Then again… Yukinoshita is pretty and I'd be an idiot if I think otherwise. Regardless though… I still like mature woman, maybe I'll give Yukinoshita several years and see how that turns up?

"No thank you, very much." She shields her body away again, looking at me with disgust and fear in her eyes. "I will only meet danger if I participate with that kind of win condition."

"Heh." For once in my long life, I scoffed in a way that Madara would. "For your information, I have nothing to do with the part of your body that you're currently covering simply because there isn't any to begin with."

From the distance, I can hear several guys cheering and air horns going off. Damn.

"Wha?!" Oh? I got a reaction that I've never seen her make before. She blushes, looking mighty insulted with the truth I just preached upon her.

I need to call myself the Truth because bitches can't handle it.

Okay, enough with the jokes.

"And besides, if you think that all we high school boys do is think about girls and a way to get under their skirts all day long then you're completely wrong." I crossed my arms, emphasizing my seriousness. "There are also other things that go through our mind."

Like, I don't know, video games? I don't have any other clue… since it would be unwise to compare your normal human to me in the first place.

"Hmm… looks like the great Yukinoshita Yukino also has things she fears?" Sensei makes this contemplating gesture. "So you're admitting loss just like that?"

If I was Hiratsuka-sensei, I would've thought 'Hook, line and sinker' because that's what Yukinoshita did. She not only eats the hook, but also the line and sinker.

She gives me this nasty glare that I just know she's capable of doing. "Fine." She sighs out. "Though I hate that you've baited me with such cheap provocation… I accept." She raises her head in confidence, her eyes shining with determination.

Well, I'll give her that. She doesn't give up easy.

Hiratsuka-sensei smiles. "It's settled then."

After the past few years I've lived in Japan, I've lived in Japan for more than twenty years now and I've made fake identities for myself, I can say that my life has been colorful. I meet new people, befriend them and even get to know them more than they know themselves. But for some reason, I feel no attachment for them. I've realized a long time ago that I've grown desensitized by how the world works. War happens, conflict's pretty much there and people die if they are killed.

The everyday pattern of live, love and move on has made me… bored.

But something tells me that starting from today, here in this classroom… my long life won't be so dull after all.

Ah, I totally forgot to have my say against this.

I don't really like reading when I was young, I find it boring and useless. Then again, this comes from the boy who couldn't sit still while he's in class so that's not very surprising.

The reason why I don't like books is because, despite what my teachers have told me about how useful they are, they aren't of any help to me. I'm a learner, not a reader. Show me, not make me read my ass off until my brain's vegetable… I don't need to read how to do things, I need to see how I do it.

Thankfully, as lazy and unmotivated Kakashi-sensei was during my younger years, he's done a great job of training me. He figured out that giving me scrolls to read isn't really going to help me, so he made me do menial stuffs that I thought was useless and boring but helped me in the end.

Ever since that day, I learned to respect perverts. Well not so much.

As I enter the room, I didn't bother looking around. I just grabbed an empty chair, sat down and plugged in my earphones. I leaned back on the backrest, letting J.S Bach's Air on the G-string fill my ears. I set the volume on medium and it's a good thing I did.

"Hello." Without even looking, I know that she still has her eyes glued to her book.

So I returned the gesture. "What?"

"I thought that you might not come again." I heard her flipping through pages from her book. "Are you a masochist?"

"No, no I'm not." I replied smoothly, just like the part of the music I'm currently listening to.

"Then are you a stalker?"

"Nope."

"Why are you assuming that I even have feelings for you in the first place?" I didn't give her time to response. "Didn't I tell you? I like mature girls, both in mind and body. And it appears that both are lacking in you."

Out of the corner of my eyes, I can see her face turning red. And I love every second of it.

"O-Oh." Yukinoshita regained her composure.

"And seriously, do you even have friends?" I'm really curious about this.

She got the looks and style… but I rarely see her outside during recess.

I can't sense anything other than her calm composure, it seems that she receives this question a lot. "Well, let's see. First, define how close and distant someone has to be in order to be called a-"

I raised my hands. I just had to stop her. It's sad.

"Okay, stop right there." If I wasn't hearing my music, I would have turned my head towards her. "That's something that only a person with no friends would say and you can quote me on that."

Maybe I'm sadder than her.

"You look like the type that'll have people flocking around and fawning over you," before I continue, I really need to stop feeding that damned ego of hers. "so pray tell why aren't you blessed in that particular part?"

I had to make sure.

"I'm not talking about your chest."

If glares could kill… then I would have died. Thankfully, they don't. And thankfully, I'm immortal.

She looks away from me. Whether it's from the topic I've brought up or the chest comment, I can't say. "You'd never be able to understand it."

She suddenly stands, holding her book with her hand.

"I have always been cute-"

Uwaaah… this girl's up there with Madara in terms of ego.

"and most boys who came near me came to like me." she walks over to a table where her bags and other books are at, reaching to replace the one she's holding for another one.

"So you're well liked yet you have no friends?" I asked. "Make up your goddamn mind, girl. Do you want to be popular or a loner?"

"Maybe it would have been nice if people actually genuinely liked me." she says.

"Wat'chu mean?"

"When I was in elementary school, my indoor shoes were hidden sixty times. Fifty of those times were done by girls of the same age as me." she walks back to her chair, taking a seat. "As a result, I have to bring home my indoor shoes and recorder with me every time I go home." I saw her sigh.

"Hm… that's pretty tough for a kid." Nothing to what every one of us in the Elemental Nation had been through, though.

"Yeah, it was tough. It was also horrible." She admits openly, as if she has nothing to hide. Then, there it is, that smug smile. "All because I am cute."

"…give me back the small amount of sympathy I just give."

She's not listening to me, more like, she's ignoring me. "But there's nothing I can do against that. No one's perfect. Everyone's weak and unsightly in their own ways. Jealousy easily influences them and others have to suffer as an outlet for their inability to keep their emotions at bay. Strangely though, the greater the person, the more they suffer in life."

Okay, I just have to write that down, that line's way too cool to be left alone.

"Isn't that just wrong?" Yukinoshita looks outside the window, finding herself lost in the clouds. "That's why I'm going to change it all. The people and the world they live in."

Hm. Looks like she's way more interesting than I thought.

"Haaah."

Yukinoshita turns to me. "What's with that sigh?"

"Oh, it's nothing. It's just…" I hesitated. "I've heard that last phrase far too often." From myself.

She raises an eyebrow but seems smart enough to not question me about it. "It's a better goal than sitting down and sulking as if the world's ending at any moment."

Was that an attempt for a bite at me or what?

"I hate how you accept weakness and affirm it."

Peacocks have to suffer from getting their feathers dirty because of how beautiful it is. Yukinoshita suffers because she's blessed with the same beauty.

It should be easy for her to pretend as if nothing happened and live a normal life…

But she's too prideful for that. I know, after all, some of my friends were like her. Sasuke, especially…

In a way, one could say that she refuses to lie to herself by ignoring all the problems that appear in her life.

I cannot say that she and I are truly similar… but there are some similarities. I once tried to change the world and the people within it, but my attempts left me with nothing but crushed and scattered dreams. The differences between us, one of them is that I've failed and she hasn't even begun yet.

She has a lot of problems that will wait for her in the future ahead if she's planning to change this world and the people in it. This dream of hers is beautiful, reminds me of Jiraiya's dream, Nagato's dreams, Dad's dreams and even mine.

Maybe…

Maybe she could do it?

"Hey, Yukinoshita?"

"Hm?"

"You know if you want to be frie-

"No thank you."

Rejected. Before I even finished.

As if to mock my previous attempt, three consecutive knocks are heard coming through the door. We both see a female student, I say female because damn… look at those melons of her, coming into the classroom that we are using as our club room. She closes the door behind her, and the first thing I noticed about her – aside from her assets – is her hair. They're pink. Of course, it's dyed, but the school's rule isn't very strict when it comes to that. It's tied to this single bun on the right part of her head. Anything else is kept short, nothing going down below her neck.

I find myself staring at her. At her eyes, mind you, sheesh.

"Excuse me, Hiratsuka-sensei told me to come here…"

Her voice is cute too, as if she's a voice actress or something. **(2)**

She leans back in repulse and the cause of her sudden action is none other than me.

I'm hurt and I'm not even kidding.

"W-What is Maki doing here?!"

Why are you shouting as if I'm some sort of alien? And 'Maki' is supposed to be me, right?

This girl is still looking at me as if I'm a creature from mars.

"Uh… I'm kind of a club member here…" I tried to say. At this point, I've plugged off and shut down my phone.

Who the hell is this girl anyway?

Unsurprisingly, Yukinoshita has the answer to my question.

"You're Yuigahama Yui-san from class 2-F aren't you?" Yukinoshita has a chair prepared for the now known as Yui. "Please, have a seat."

I saw Yuigahama sit down happily on the chair Yukinoshita has provided for her.

"You know who I am?" I heard Yuigahama ask Yukinoshita.

I chose this moment to pipe into their conversation.

"I bet she knows everyone in this whole school."

"No, I didn't know who you are."

"…something tells me you're lying."

"Oh, why would I? Did you not remember how surprised I was when I saw first saw you enter the classroom?"

"That was surprised? More like you're disgusted of seeing me."

"You said that, not me."

…you win this round.

"It's like… this club looks like a lot of fun!" For some reason or another, Yuigahama is happy. She even has stars sparkling around her and everything.

Yuigahama turns her attention to me.

"And Maki, I you're talking like crazy here!"

I narrowed my eyes. "What do you mean?"

"Ah! Don't get it the wrong way! It's just that you're completely different here than you're in class and like the way you act in class is totally gross."

I can't believe this girl can say that with a smile on her face.

"Fuckin' bitch."

That is not on impulse, I intended to do that.

"Hey! I'm not a bitch! I'm still a vir-" she has this regretful expression on her face. "WAAAAH FORGET ABOUT THAT!"

"What's wrong with that? Vir-"

"WAAAH! But isn't it embarrassing to still be one even in high school? What about your girl power Yukinoshita-san!?"

Excuse me what? Did I just hear her correctly? It's embarrassing to be a virgin in high school?

"What a worthless sense of value."

It seems that Yukinoshita shares my view of this.

"And this talk about 'girl power' makes you sound more like a total bitch."

"There you go again with the bitch thing! Calling girls bitches is just wrong! Maki you're mean and gross!"

"And calling me mean and gross isn't?" I snapped. "And stop calling me Maki, bitch."

"You…!"

"What? You triggered because I called you bitch?"

"You!"

"Bitch, bitch, bitch! It's not like I'm hurting anyone."

"You're hurting my feelings!"

"I said 'anyone' and your feelings isn't one of them, bitch."

"YOU'RE MEAN AND GROSS MAKI!"

* * *

After a while, we're now in the Home Economic room. It's where we practice cooking and make food to eat during HE class. Everyone's wearing an apron, including me.

"So… how and why are we here again?"

Before me is a counter with cooking ingredients like flour, eggs and milk. There are also cooking utensils like mixing bowls and spatulas. It's obvious what we're going to do here. We're obviously making baked ramen.

"Apparently, Yuigahama-san wants someone to help her make homemade cookies for her to give to someone."

Yukinoshita dons an apron and I never thought that I would see her wear one.

Cookies, really?

"Cookies eh…?" so it's not baked ramen…

"Well, in that case, you're in luck Yuigahama." I rolled up my sleeves. "Because I'm this town's cookie master."

I'm pretty sure I have a rather cocky smirk on my face.

"Eh?! Did you win a baking award or something?!"

"No, I just thought that it sounds cool." I grabbed bag of all purpose flour.

"Then you're no master!"

I wagged my finger in front of her. "Tsk, tsk, tsk. One does not have to win competitions in order to be a master, you have to be chosen by the Grail."

I'm pulling out all sorts of references aren't I?

"What…?" Yuigahama, apparently, does not watch anime.

"Hmph! Let me simplify it for you: we'll have a showdown, me versus you in making cookies!"

"That'll beat the entire point of me being here!" She snaps at me, clutching a whisk tightly. She grabs Yukinoshita to her side, surprising the quiet girl a little bit. "But I won't lose! Yukinoshita-san and I will definitely win against you!"

I squinted harder than Clint Eastwood. "We shall see… now, let the shokugeki begin!" I declare, pointing my own whisk into the ceiling.

This fanfiction is a cooking fanfiction.

I don't usually bake, but when I do… it's either cake or pizza. My skill in culinary is next to none, because I'm probably not that good when compared people like Yukihira Soma and the old man from the ramen bar in town. But I do know a little thing or two about a little bit of kitchen magic. I've travelled through places where the food are delicious, stomach rumbling and pure heaven when tasted. I have learned a thing or two from those times of travelling.

Though I don't carry around a skillet or end up eating everything I kill, I've eaten some of the world's best dishes that people has ever made. There was this one time when I considered opening a restaurant, but I'm too lazy for that so I'll stick to the eating part only. I never get people to taste my cooking though, so I may just be subjective when it comes to the quality of my food. However, that does not mean that I can't cook! This is the 21st century; even men can cook in this day and age!

After several minutes of mixing and baking, we're finally done.

"First, let us start with Yukinoshita and Yuigahama's eh… charcoal?"

You know, since Yukinoshita is there, I expect the results to be good. But I was wrong.

Yukinoshita is voicing her displeasure. Shaking her head side to side and sighing as if she's witnessed one of the most disappointing events on earth.

"It takes a special kind of person to make so many mistakes at once…" she's sighing like a mother who's disappointed of her daughter's kitchen Chernobyl tendencies.

I brought one of the… cookies to my eye level, inspecting it.

"This looks like charcoal that you could buy from a home department store in town. Is this even safe to eat? I think it's poisonous."

Yuigahama pouts with her arms crossed, puffing her cheeks as if she's a ten year old girl.

"I'll show you! Cooking's all about the taste after all!" she picks up one of the burnt cookies with her hand but she stops halfway through. "Eh… I think you're right."

I, find confidence in her defeat.

"Then, let me show you mine!" I unveiled the cookies that I have baked to the two girls.

"Oooh!"

Well, at least Yuigahama's impressed.

They grab each for themselves, looking at is nervously. When they take the first bite, I knew that it's a success judging from their expression.

"Wow Maki, this is really good!" Yuigahama is the first to voice her opinion about my cookies. She downs several more pieces of cookies, making me wonder about her eating habits.

"Hm. These are not bad." When you see someone like Yukinoshita smiling after eating your dish, you know that it's good. "I must commend your ability to cook, Uzumaki-kun. I never knew that someone as terrible as you would be able to cook, bake even."

"Ha ha." Sarcasm's dripping from my voice. "I get the feeling that you girls will like it. Believe it or not, this is the first time I ever have people to try out my cooking."

Yuigahama looks at me, confused with her mouth still stuffed with cookies. "Buht deesh ahr sho gwood?" she swallows. "But these are so good, don't your parents ever try them."

…oh boy.

I feel a little bit uneasy. Not because I took offense from Yuigahama's statement, I just don't know how I should explain things without making her feel guilty.

"Er… I don't have parents." I said lamely. "I'm an orphan, I was raised in an orphanage."

Not sure if I should say that last part…

It seems that my status as an orphan is news to them, judging by the looks they're making. Yuigahama looks worried and sorry, I can see the guilt in her eyes. "Oh my God I'm so sorr-"

"Nah, it's fine." I said. "It's okay, you didn't know. I've been living by myself for a long time so I'm pretty much used to it."

It's not like she knows.

I noticed how Yukinoshita is looking at me, but I try not to look back, I didn't want to make things any more awkward than what it already is now.

Clapping my hands, I gathered their attention. "Let's continue baking cookies until you can bake them, Yuigahama! But if it's shit, the trashcan's over there." I pointed to the bin at the corner of the room.

"Now you're just mean!"

So we practiced that evening until Yuigahama's able to cook a decent batch of cookies. And by decent it limits the destruction to a point where Yukinoshita and I only vomited.

Yukinoshita and I are back at our club room. We are seated at our respective places and off doing our respective things.

"Was it really wise to help Yuigahama-san do the things that she should have done all by herself?" she suddenly asks me.

"What do you mean? In case you've forgotten, we're the service club, we're supposed to help people."

This coming from the girl who's been the only member of this club for god knows how long is hilarious.

"She could not have done it on her own, yes, but I believe that experience is necessary for growth." She's frowning, I could tell. "I didn't think that switching her batch of cookies with yours was something smart."

So she saw, of course.

"While I do agree with you that experience is necessary for growth, I can't help but want to see her succeed, you know? I've seen people who worked their hardest and still couldn't do the things that their friends are capable of doing just because they're less gifted in the head department. So to remedy this, they work hard. Really hard."

Rock Lee, Sarutobi Konohamaru, Jiraiya… me. I can list out names.

"I want her to understand that this world's highly competitive and that it's cruel with its competition, but I can't bring myself to let her face that kind of realization when I know that she should. Just think of it as a free pass, she's working hard after all, so she has gotta learn a thing or two already."

"…what a childish way of thinking."

You know what, I'm not even offended.

"Thank you." I smiled genuinely. And something was telling me that Yukinoshita knows it.

Our tranquil club room is disrupted of its quietness by knockings through the door. Yuigahama enters, all smiles and cheers.

Well someone's in a good mood…

"Yahallo!"

Yahallo? Is that what kids these days are saying?

Anyway, she's waving at us, but she walks up to Yukinoshita first. "What do you want, Yuigahama-san?"

The pink haired girl recoiled. "Eeh? Am I not allowed to be here or something? Do you actually hate me, Yukinoshita-san?"

Yukinoshita sighs. "Well, not exactly hate, but I'm not really familiar with you either."

"That's the same thing!" I saw her pout.

"So, is there anything you need?"

"As thanks for helping me bake last week, I've gone and baked you some cookies as thanks!" she throws the small tied bag filled homemade cookies to Yukinoshita, who isn't expecting it.

"Oh… I'm not really hungry…"

"I practiced a lot at home so it won't be bad!" there's an eerie pause at the middle of her statement. "I hope." She then says, "Cooking is fun after all, maybe I should start making main dishes next?"

"Eh…" Yukinoshita looks uneasy.

"Let's eat together from now on, Yukinon!"

I'm sorry, but I'm trying my hardest to not laugh at the moment, so please enjoy their conversation.

"I respectfully decline. I enjoy eating alone, so no thanks. And don't call me Yukinon, it's repulsive."

"I'll even come here every time after school!" but Yuigahama is not listening.

Looks like I have nothing else to add in this conversation, I might as well go back home now. I walked out of the room and to the hallway, but I heard someone call out to me.

"Maki!" Yuigahama throws something blue at me. Without flinching, I managed to catch the flying object with ease. "T-They're some for you too!"

"You're welcome and thanks, Yuiga-" no. "Yui." I smiled.

For some reason, Yui turns red all of a sudden.

* * *

"Hm… school is always tiring."

I mumbled to no one but myself.

I thought that my life would be filled with nothing more than boredom from having to live off the same pattern and continue to do so until eternity. I'm cursed with this gift called immortality and I don't know whether it's a bad thing or a good thing.

But this week has been fun for me.

Even if I have to cope with Yukinoshita's 'holier than thou' bullshit, Hiratsuka-sensei's persistence and Yui's clumsiness… it's all fun.

I'm feeling alive.

Opening the bag that Yui threw at me, my smile dropped.

"Okay, maybe she still has a couple of things that she needs to know about cooking." I grabbed one and bite.

"Hm. It's like a very sweet charcoal."

And I love it.

* * *

 **I should have probably named this fic RKO, because it came out of nowhere. For now, just enjoy this and expect future updates. I'm hooked on the series and I hope that I did a great impression of this first chapter. Please review as it feeds my motivation to keep on writing.**

 **1: In case some of you didn't figure it out, the girl was clearly shy of Naruto and he's too dense to notice it.**

 **2: Yui's VA, Nao Touyama, has a very cute voice and is considered to be one of the most popular voice actor in the anime industry.**


	2. Of authors and writers

**This world is comprised of living beings that are highly dependent on each other. Whether it's humans, animals or plants; we are all dependent no matter how different we are.**

 **In Biology, we know this as symbiosis and it is the close interaction between two biological species. Humans, just like they depend on other humans, also depend on animals to keep them fed. Animals provide food, materials from their skin and hide, energy and yields in farming. These animals are also dependent on each other. Predators need to hunt prey to keep them fed, and prey lives off plants and smaller preys.**

 **This example shows that animals are not capable of living alone on their own, just like humans.**

 **To remedy this, they create what we know as a society. A group. A herd. A pack.**

 **It varies for different animals, but a pack or group provides the same things. One is protection.** _ **'Together we stand, divided we fall'**_ **is a saying that can be used to simplify this logic. Much like humans, there are many animals out there that lives in a society that comprises of their own. In that very group they socialize and help each other to ensure safety and well-being. Though not as intelligent as humans, animals like lions and wildebeests know that sticking together in a group prevents danger from happening to them.**

 **The second one is to simply cultivate and maintain their species. Animals live together to raise their offspring. For some animals, this is related to the first reason because if all the young are born at once, there are many adults to protect and take care of them. For other animals, it's a way to contribute efforts and divide work divisions. Some adults can take care of the young and the others can find food for the whole pack. This behavior is commonly found in lions, when some members of the pride goes hunting, some are left to protect the young.**

 **A third one is to, it can be related to the second one, find food faster and easier. Hyenas are good hunters, but they could not hunt on their own. They hunt in groups, overwhelming their prey in numbers. They lack the strength and bravery of a lion when alone, but when they are together, they are frightening enough. Scavengers they may be, but they won't hesitate to hunt when it's necessary.**

"Whoooa! What's this? Dude, that's so cool!"

"Erm… eh…"

"Eh… uh…"

 **All of this animal behaviors and interactions show one thing and that is all living organism needs to be together, competitive, smart and resourceful to ensure the survival of their species.**

"Hey dude, check it out!"

"What?"

"Hey man, mind if I borrow this a little bit?"

 **They must hunt, kill and devour the weak in order to survive. The same thing applies to humans in a way. But we are given a functioning brain capable of telling which one is right and which is wrong, then again don't quote me on that, I've seen and talked to my fair share of people who still has no clue about that.**

 **Which is why, if I somehow died, in my next life… I want to be a penguin. An ice cold assed motherfucking penguin named Gunther who lives in the middle of the fucking North Pole, eating fish and get fat for the rest of my chubby and flightless life.**

"Aaaaand… done."

I have nothing but satisfaction in me after I've finished writing this report. I even drew a picture of an Emperor Penguin too, just for reference.

I sure hope that I pass Biology with this.

* * *

Hm… if you're wondering, yes, I often come to the faculty room and most of those times I was here, it is because of myself. Or my behavior, to be more specific.

"You sure do love penguins." Hiratsuka-sensei said, lifting the report that I wrote for Biology during recess. It showed the five hundred and thirty nine words long essay and the drawing of the Emperor Penguin that I'm actually quite proud of.

"Well, they are pretty cute…" her glare made me shut up. "Ahem… I thought that you're a modern literature teacher, what are you doing with my Biology report?"

"I'm also a guidance counselor." Ooh, smooth. I can give her props for that. I saw her place my paper down on her desk. "That's why your Biology teacher asked me to deal with this."

That's a very long sigh you're releasing, sensei. Am I really that bad?

"So…" she began tapping her pointer on the paper, drawing my focus. "Which part of this shows how animals live in the wild?"

What do you mean? "What do you mean? I wrote a legit report!" I expressed with my hand pointing at the first two long paragraphs. "It clearly tells you how animals live in the wild. They form groups and work together to keep on living."

Hiratsuka-sensei did not look amused. I saw her puckering her lips out a little, probably as a way to show her disapproval of my answer. But on another note, I found that really hot.

"Yes… it's true, but this last part killed the whole point of this report." She marked the part she was referring to. It was the part where I wrote that I want to be a penguin in my next life. "And the drawing… it's horrible."

Okay, I couldn't take that. I just can't. You can insult me, you can insult the plot holes I have in my books, but there are two things that you can't quite insult. One of them is ramen and the second one is my drawing.

"I get where you're going with this report, Uzumaki, but I just can't help but think that you're trying to singlehandedly prove that living together is a bad thing or something." She's rubbing her forehead whilst sighing.

"I don't know what you're talking about. If this is about you hunting alone, or rather, the fact that you're still singl-"

 **WAM**

She punched me. I didn't dodge, just because I'm lazy to move. It didn't hurt though.

"Any~way…" Sensei started with her arms crossed, as if she had never punched me in the first place. "About that request from the other day, how did it go?" she asked.

While her punch did not hurt, I just couldn't believe that a teacher would punch her student without any restrain…

"Oh, well, the requester was okay with the results." I shrugged. "Ah, that reminds me, what about that _contest_ that you were talking about?"

In case you've forgotten I was referring to the contest in which she forced down upon Yukinoshita and myself to see who could handle requests better.

I still think that it was stupid for her to do that but I just can't help it due to my competitive nature. I blame those sixteen years rivalry I had with Sasuke. Damn bastard made my life harder even when he's dead…

"Oh, that? Don't worry, I'll be making decisions based on all of my personal prejudices and issues!"

"No, no, that's totally worthy of worrying."

And don't say that with such a smug look, you're not supposed to be proud of it dammit!

"It's all right here."

…she tapped her palm on her chest as a way to show her confidence.

…if I wasn't posing as a high school student, I would do **unspeakable** things to her. I can still do it now, but I won't.

"I… see…"

There's really nothing else to say there.

"By the way, what do you think of Yukinoshita?" she asks me.

There's a lot to say there. I ranted,

"She's horrible, cold, sarcastic and completely unforgiving. She has a fifty meter pole stuck where the sun doesn't shine and a personality that could make water freeze just by talking to it with her relentless verbal assault. I'd rather kill myself by drinking bleach through my mouth, ears and nose rather than having to work with her for the rest of my school year." I paused,

"But she's cute."

Sensei sweat drops. "I thought so."

Ignoring the outrageous look that Hiratsuka-sensei is giving me, I have to say that I did my best in being honest. See, this is why I couldn't agree with people who say 'Honesty is a virtue'. It's a fucking dagger that stabs through the heart and burn the wound as it enters and leaves.

"I see…" she didn't take my bluntness well. "She's unusually a bright student, but even people as blessed as Yukinoshita have their own problems too."

I couldn't have agreed anymore with what Hiratsuka-sensei just said. That girl had problems…

"But she's a really nice girl at heart."

My eyes wandered to the potted flowers placed near the window in the room.

"She's nice and all too often right. But the world isn't exactly nice or right."

Tell me something I don't know.

"I'm pretty sure that it's hard for her as it is for the rest of us."

I couldn't say anything about that.

"You guys' personalities are pretty twisted, they're almost similar." She said with a smile directed at me. "I'm worried that the both of you might not be able to fit in with society. That's why I want to keep you two in the same room."

"So, what, that place a sanatorium now?"

"Isn't it?" Hiratsuka-sensei laughed what I would call a beautiful laughter.

"Either way for me, it's fun watching you guys." She giggled. "So maybe, I just want to keep you where I can see you."

…again and seriously, if it wasn't for the fact that I'm posing as a student in this school, I would have done **unspeakable** things to Hiratsuka-sensei.

Like… kiss her or hug her or something.

* * *

For someone who's considered a 'loner' like me, I naturally find comfort in eating alone whenever it's recess. However, today is impossible. There are two reasons why. One is that the cafeteria, the place where I usually eat at, is filled to the very last table today. It must be that new menu they have on sale starting from today, mapo tofu? Is that what it's called? I'm not into food if it's not ramen.

And the second reason being… it's raining outside. Quite a heavy rain, actually. I don't know why god wants it to rain today, but whatever his reason is, I hope that he's happy with making my life even more miserable.

"Hey, see this. Isn't it cute?"

"Haha! It's really cute, where did you buy it?"

I don't want to associate myself with a couple of giggling high school girls because of three reasons.

One, I'm into mature women, so forget about these kids.

Two, they're noisy. Don't they ever, you know, not laugh at every single thing they considered cute? Hell, is there anything they _don't_ consider as cute?!

And three… I can't really approach them in the first place either, due to my status as being a loner. It's a good thing that they don't know what I write for a living. Otherwise… I can only imagine what they'll do to me.

So here I am, forced to eat yakisoba bread and milk. It's my second bread and my third milk, I'm eating a lot today. Then again, my metabolism has always been weird. The reason why I picked yakisoba bread is because they're the only thing closer to ramen next to udon and I hate udon. Udon is like the fatter and least popular cousin of ramen.

Not that I have anything against fat people or something… some of my previous friends were fat.

"Come on Hayato, just today?"

"I can't do it today. I have a club meeting."

"Oh come on, it's just _one_ day? They got this deal on double scooped ice cream! I want one with chocolate and chocolat."

"That's like two scoops of chocolate."

"You're right!"

"Hahaha!"

…that conversation was so cringey I'm pretty sure my ears are bleeding.

"And besides, I'm so hungry right now."

"You need to hold back a little, Yumiko. You'll just regret it if you eat too much."

"I don't gain anything no matter how much I eat anyway, so it's fine."

"Yeah, totally, Yumiko! You're totally beautiful!"

Wait, did I just hear Yui speaking?

Holy shit so she's there this whole time?! I'm becoming less and less aware every day, not good, looks like I'll need to work out on that.

"And your legs are so pretty!" I can sense the hesitation in her next words. "But, anyway, I need to—"

But the pretentious bitch just won't listen. "You think so?" I managed to see her holding her nose up high from the corner of my eyes. "But don't you think that Yukinoshita or whatever is kinda pretty too?" now she's just spiting someone who's not even here.

Even if she's spiting Yukinoshita, insulting someone who's not even here is kinda dick move.

"Well, yeah, Yukinon's quite pretty too…"

Dammit Yui… you really need to stop voicing your thoughts.

"'Yukinon'…?"

I stopped halfway through my bread as I can already sense the rising tension. Thankfully, whoever it is that's with them, managed to speak up first.

"Well, I guess it's fine. I can come after I'm done with my club duties."

That serves as a in instant mood changed. "Okay Hayato, call me when you're done!"

So his name is Hayato, huh? Nope, doesn't ring a bell and I'll probably forget him after I'm done eating. I have better things to worry about, after all, like my deadline for example. It's still next week, I know, but my editor won't stop pestering me! I swear, she's more into the story rather than me…

I can learn a thing or two from the earlier conversation I've heard.

If that is the way to make friends in this day and age, I can see why people are so divided. Not to say that the same didn't happen back in my time, it's just that we didn't have time to bitch about who we make friends with back in my day since we have more important things to think of, like becoming a shinobi.

The period I came from is a time where conflict could potentially happen even by the smallest of troubles. It's not as worse as the warring states period or the clan wars period that came before my own, but it's still a time where peace could be disturbed by the slightest bit of noise. I never made Hokage, so I can only imagine what would have happened _if_ my people survived.

I accidentally turned my eyes toward Yui and she accidentally does the same. She gives me a desperate look, one that I'm all too familiar with. I sighed. I can only give her a small reassuring smile, but even so, I know that's not enough.

"U-Um… I need to go somewhere else for lunch, so…"

The girl with the bleached hair seems to have taken this the wrong way. "Oh, then I'd like a lemon tea, I forgot to bring my drink today."

"Eh… it'll already be fifth period when I get back so… I'll be gone all lunch and I don't know if that's okay with you, you know?"

I feel like an ass right now. I can only sit here while a girl is in trouble.

"Huh?" I could sense Yumiko narrowing her eyes. "What, really? Yui, you've been totally not hanging around with us lately."

I can already hear the suspenseful violin music playing in the background.

Yui fidgets around, and I can't blame her. Her so called 'friend' has just directed her with an assault after all.

"Well, you know, it's just that I have something to do. Like, sorry, but I just have to…"

"I don't get it. Spit it out." Yumiko's dribbling her fingers on the desk, showing her impatience.

"…sorry."

"Tch, I'm not asking for you to say sorry. You have something to say don't you?"

By now, it's not strange that their conversation has gotten the attention of everyone in class. I can't blame them, this is just too cringey even for me. But I can't handle the fact that someone's ridiculing her own friend like that, it's hypocritical. If this is how friends are like amongst each other, then it's a good thing that I'm considered a loner.

There's really no reason why I should help Yui in this situation, after all, I've only known her from yesterday. It'll make me look like I'm meddling where I'm not supposed to and probably a bad person in the eyes of Yumiko's gang. If we're to follow the so called high school hierarchy system, you don't want to mess with the most popular girl in school. That'll make you an instant target for everyone.

But… since when have I ever need a reason to help someone?

It's one thing to betray your own friends and it's another thing to leave someone in need of help alone.

After all these long years, I have somehow managed to not abandon those two policies. The first one is instilled into my mind as a child from my teacher and the second one is a lesson I've learned along the way of being a ninja. I can't just abandon those two principals, because if I do, I'll be worse than trash and lose my identity.

And… I don't like seeing girls cry, especially cheerful people like Yui, I just can't. When you see people like her cry, something inside of you wants to cry along with them.

I'm not trying to paint myself as the source of attention for this whole school year, but I'll gladly do that for Yui.

I stood up from my seat, my chair rattling from the quickness of my movement.

I opened my mouth to say something—

But at the same time, the door to my class slides open.

"UZUMAKIIIII!" A couple of messily dressed and older looking students stormed the place and eventually my table. The one who shouted my name even goes as far as to grab me by the collar.

Of course, the sudden appearance of this group of students, startled everyone inside. Heck even I'm surprised. I'm forced to stare at this stupid bastard's face while he's glaring at me.

"You've got a lot of nerve going to school after what you did yesterday you fucker…!" I can taste the murder in his voice, but he's speaking nonsense.

"Excuse me?" I started with honest confusion. "Are you sure you got the right guy, senpai?"

Now he's even more mad.

"Don't fuck with us Uzumaki!" he tightens the grip on my collar. "You think we'd turn a blind eye around you after what you've done yesterday?! You piece of shit blonde, just because your face looks better than the rest of us, doesn't mean that you get to do whatever you want with other people's bike!"

Wait, bike? "Wait, bike? What bike?"

"Aniki, he's playing stupid, let's beat him up to refresh his memories…" one of the delinquents is getting a little bit impatient.

"Not yet Keiji, not yet." He slams me into a wall back first. "I want this bastard to remember what he did to our precious yesterday!"

This is getting too long, can't you just tell me what I did?

"This is getting too long; can't you just tell me what exactly did I do wrong?"

"Tch!" he's even madder now. "Well, since I'm in a pretty good mood today, I guess I'll tell you…"

* * *

 **Yesterday, after school**

* * *

" _Aniki, let us ride home with you!"_

 _We see one unimportant character that happens to be the leader of the delinquents exit the school's gates. Class has ended and everyone else is about to return to their own homes, respectively._

" _Tch! You guys are helpless aren't you?" we see the leader shaking his head at the helplessness of his underlings. "Fine, let's go ride home together, we'll stop by a supermarket because I need to buy ingredients to make food for tonight's dinner, you guys can join us for dinner too."_

" _UWOOOOH! AS EXPECTED OF ANIKI! HE'S A VERY CARING PERSON!"_

" _ANIKI YOU'RE SO COOL!"_

 _The delinquent leader and his faithful entourage are the only people in this school who actually bring motorbikes. Of course, since high school students are not allowed to bring motorbikes to school, they have to park their bikes somewhere else. Conveniently, there's a parking lot nearby next to a convenience store. Talk about convenience._

 _Every day is always the same day for the delinquent leader. He would walk out of school, get flocked by his lackeys and he'll make them come with him to buy groceries and carry them to his house. Occasionally, when he's in a good mood, he'd pick up some cigs for the gang to smoke together in an alley._

 _Such is the life of a delinquent._

 _But there is one thing they didn't expect._

 _A blonde dude pissing on one of their rides._

" _WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"_

 _Said blonde, who is currently in the middle of his… eh… 'calling', turns his head to look at the group of delinquents behind him. "Ah, sup." He wiggles his eyebrows._

 _The sound of piss dripping to the tire of one of the bikes continues until the person is finally finished with his business._

" _Aah… that's a good leak."_

"…"

" _Hm, I better go home now." The violator walks away, chirpily._

"…"

 _None of the delinquents dare to raise a voice about the matter. They can only watch as their leader turn pale and ashen, as if he was the one who had been pissed on._

* * *

Holy shit I did that?

"Holy shit I did that?"

"YOU FUCKING DID!"

The entire class sweat drops.

"Listen here blondie, I know for the fact that you're rich, I've heard what the teachers say about you. You're lazy, you support yourself with the money from your job and there's a very high chance that you're mental!"

Hm… I got the feeling that I might just know who said that last bit about me.

"But that's beside the point!" can you please stop abusing my collars? They have feelings too you know.

 **#collarlivesmatter.**

"You can do two things here Uzumaki." His punks are behind him, bumping fists into their palms or either brandishing blunt objects like pipes and long meter sticks. "One, you pay up, which will be a lot more than what you owe me. Or… you sit down while I make an example out of you."

You know you're really unpopular if none of your classmates are calling the teachers even when you're threatened by a group of armed people. I can feel the love.

I'm not all bothered with the fact that I'm stuck in a place filled with people who are aiming to harm me and other people who could be potential victims from getting caught in the whole heat. Trouble will always find me and I've been alive for a veeeery long time to confirm that. The completely unimportant delinquent leader is right about me having two choices though. I can pay him up with the money I have with me, I have several thousand yen in my wallet, or I can just sit down like a good boy while they beat the shit out of me.

The first choice is obviously what any normal people would do since they're not getting harmed… while normal people would not even think of accepting the second one since no one likes pain.

But… here's the thing.

"I'm not normal." I grinned.

"Huh? What're you grinning at?"

"Oh, nothing, I'm just surprised that an older senpai of mine who I totally respect as a senpai would pull something like this to his junior." I'm trying my best to not make my voice patronizing.

"Oh yeah? Then do as your senpai says and pay the fuck up." Obviously, he's not kidding around at this point. He has his goons block off the exits. Like that's going to do anything.

"Ah, but do you really want to do it here?" I gesture my hands around, making him notice about his surroundings. "There are fifteen people here, you and your little boy scouts excluded. I'm not close with any of them, but is it really wise to do your threatening here?"

"I'll do things however and wherever I want, blondie." He mutters intimidatingly to my face, giving me an unnecessary detailed look of his mug.

Do I really have to do things the hard way?

"Ito."

"Y-Yes!?"

I expected no less than surprise from Ito. I mean, he probably doesn't even know that I know him.

"What is Japan's criminal law article chapter seven section thirty six?"

"C-Criminal law article chapter seven section thirty six!" he begins to recite in a textbook manner. "Self-defense! One: An act unavoidably performed to protect the rights of oneself or any other person against imminent and unlawful infringement is not punishable! Two: An act exceeding the limits of self-defense may lead to the punishment being reduced or may exculpate the offender in light of the circumstances!" **(1)**

Thank God for Japanese politicians.

Even with his hand firmly gripped around my collar, I still dared to place a hand on my offender's shoulder. "So we learned two things today, buddy." I said. "One is that I can fight back if you choose to fight me, I can also knock out a tooth or teeth, and leave all of you with bruises to heal with for the rest of the week. And two, you're lucky that your fate will leave you no worse than a couple of missing teeth and black and blues all over."

I have enough dealing with stupid people.

"So… **let go before I regret labeling myself as a law abiding citizen."**

I saw him flinch from the slight pressure I give on his shoulder. I'm pretty sure I'm smiling, but to him, he must've seen the face of the Devil himself. I can see the blood draining from his face and the grip around my collar disappears.

"Thank you." I said, while fixing my collar and tie. "Now, if you would please exit the classroom. We have English for next period and it starts in thirty." I gestured to the clock hanged at the wall in front of the room.

"U-Um." The leader nods shakily, still pale. "L-Let's get out of here guys, this guy's not worth it anyways…"

One by one, the group of troublemakers exits the classroom, leaving behind a stunned audience and a grouchy me. I shouldn't have done all that, because now all of the attention is on me and I know for sure that Hiratsuka-sensei is so going to be on my case later. If not today then tomorrow and if not tomorrow then the day after.

I sighed. "Way to go me…" I sat down, crashing back to my chair.

Then I remembered the whole point of me standing up in the first place.

"You."

The girl who Yui was 'talking' with earlier flinches under my gaze.

"Shut the fuck up."

Afterwards, I said no more and pulled out my earphones and immediately plugged them into my ears.

" _No when. No want. No worries."_

I'll be having this on loop for a while now.

Unknown to me, a second person has opened the rear door to my classroom, just in line with Yui and her group of friends.

Yukinoshita blinks several times. "Did… something happen?"

At the same time, everyone who's not worth mentioning about begins to exit the classroom for different reasons. Some choose being thirsty as an excuse, some also used the bathroom as an excuse and one girl who's completely out of idea just convinces herself that she has better things to do.

You know what? Fuck this shit, I'm getting out of here too.

I stood up and walked to the back of the class. I had to get out through here since the front door's crowded with people and I don't want to wait.

As I walked, I heard through the sayings of my mp3,

"Thanks, Maki. For trying to stand up for me."

Well, whaddaya know.

"Hn. Anytime."

I exited the classroom and closed the door behind me. On the hallway, I noticed that the Ice Queen herself is standing there, leaning against the wall. She walks up to me with a demanding look that I'm, scarily, already used to.

"What happened in there?" she asks, but it's more of a demand if you ask me, her voice is just soft.

I did not answer, I just pressed my pointer on my lips, shushing her.

"I'm sorry Yumiko. I've got this thing, like, I've got to run with the pack. Like, doing what everyone is telling me what to do? Well, I've always been like that. Whenever I played house, I always want to become the mom, but the other girls also want to so I ended up playing as the dog and stuff. Maybe it's because I lived in an apartment? Hehe…"

"Whatever you're trying to say, I don't understand."

"I know right? I don't really get what I'm trying to say either… but after meeting Maki and Yukinon, I thought… they say what they really mean. And they know what people want but they don't force themselves to do it. Maki especially since he's a little bit hard headed. That kind of attitude and approach just… kind of worked for me."

Kuh…! So this is what a father feels like when he's proud of his daughter, huh?

"It made me think, maybe forcing myself doing what people wanted me to was wrong."

Is this pride I'm feeling?

"I mean, Maki is Maki, right? He's mean sometimes, but he's not afraid to use his meanness to help others. Maybe I should do the same, except the mean part though."

"Hmph." Yukinoshita, stop giving me that sly smirk. "So you're also grouchy at time, huh? I thought you'd keep it only to the club room. I'm surprised no one fled yet from your intimidating looks."

…if she only knew.

"That's one of those things that you should keep to yourself, Yukinoshita." I sighed.

"Maybe I should, talking to you is quite gross after all."

This bitch.

"So that's how it is." Yui says. "It's not like I hate you or anything, Yumiko."

"Hm, really? Well, whatever."

"…Thank you. And sorry."

I heard Yui ending her conversation with this Yumiko person whose face I have already forgotten. Suddenly, the door to the classroom is opened the Yui is pretty surprised seeing me outside.

"GAH! M-M-Maki?! What are you doing here?! Have you been here the whole time?!"

Quick, act stupid!

"Hm?" I plugged out my earphones. "What was that? I've been hearing music all this time and I didn't quite catch what you just said."

Watching Yui sighing in relief amused me.

"I-Is that so… good then…" she mumbles. "A-Anyway, b-bye…" then she runs off towards where Yukinoshita did moments ago.

Is she sick? Why is her face red? Can you catch a cold while it's raining outside?

"Man, it's good thing I'm an idiot." **(2)**

After the whole mess was cleared up with, thankfully, none of the teachers called me in for some questioning as to what has happened in the classroom which means that everyone kept their mouth shut. The worst thing that could have happened to me is nothing really. The school can't really take any actions against me since I didn't fight back physically or anything. Really, the worst thing that could have happened to me is listening to Hiratsuka-sensei's lecture.

Then again, I wouldn't really mind spending time with her.

Thinking about it again, I shouldn't have done what I did back then. I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm glad that I was able to help Yui, but maybe I should have dealt with those guys in another way. I should have brought them outside, use genjutsu and make them forget everything and pretend that nothing ever happened. Yeah, I should've done that. But I don't regret doing what I did. While I like being alone, I never liked being underestimated. Blame my stubbornness for that.

I didn't get to know the guy's name either, but I doubted he's even important.

* * *

For the long years I've been living in Japan, I have attended other schools outside of this one. The school I've attended is not limited to high schools only. Hell I even pretended to be grade schooler once but I don't do it often anymore since it requires a lot of make up stories and chakra to maintain the transformation. But being a grade schooler is awesome though, you can touch your teacher's tits and not get blamed for doing that since you're a kid.

Right now, I'm on my way to the club room. As much as I hate being in a room alone with Yukinoshita, it is now my obligation as a club member to attend my club regardless of what I'll be doing. Chances are, in this shitty weather, we'll actually get someone to help today.

"Hm?"

Oh, what's this?

In front of our club room's door, Yui and Yukinoshita are peeking into the room through the thin opening they made by opening the door slighting like suspicious people. Silently, I walked up to them,

"What are you doing?"

My sudden appearance and question elicits a rather refreshing reaction from the two girls.

"Don't sneak up on us you creep." Yukinoshita reprimands me, her voice actually shocked for once. "I was startled by your face."

"You mean voice, right?" I responded dryly. "What's wrong anyway?"

"There, inside!" Yui whispers hurriedly. "There's a strange person inside the club room, he's totes suspicious!"

Suspicious person inside our club room? Now that's something I did not expect. I stepped forward, lining my sight with the small opening and took a peek inside the room. I couldn't decipher who the person is so I just went for the straight forward approach and slide the door open.

There, inside, is a person who is about as tall me. The first thing you'll notice when seeing him is the long brown trench coat that he is wearing over his uniform. His dyed white hair is also hard to miss, but what made me recognize him is his body size. Again, as I've said before, I have nothing against fat people but this person is… well, big in terms of build. With sheets of paper scattered all over the club room, possibly due to the sudden gust of wind from the opened window, he looks like someone from a cliché 'I've been waiting for you' scene in movies.

"Mwahaha! To think that we should meet here…" he says in an archaic manner of speaking, tone overly exaggerated. "I've been waiting for you," he spins around, his gloved hand pointing a finger specifically at my direction. "Uzumaki Naruto!"

Hm… what is this skin crawling sensation I'm feeling? Ah, it's shame.

"Is this your acquaintance?" Yukinoshita asks me.

"No, no, I don't know him." I replied flatly, shaking my head. "Even if I do, I don't know him."

"Oh? So you have forgotten the face of your own comrade…" I can just imagine him doing a pose with an imaginary katana while the background is all purple and mysterious. "You disappoint me Uzumaki!"

I looked away.

Uwaaah… I'm so ashamed!

"He called you comrade, though…" Yui tries to say to me.

"Indeed, comrade!" this person, who I clearly have no relations with, ominously points a finger at me, striking another pose. "Surely you remember those hellish days when we charge through the field of Yamato together?" **(3)**

Seriously… this guy is taking exaggeration to a whole new level.

Now I'm looking away not only because of the shame, but also from Yui and Yukinoshita's suspicious looks that they are sending.

"I may or may not have been partnered with him at gym class." I confessed.

The person's face morphed into a scowl, as if he's offended by something.

"Hmph! What a distasteful tradition that have been implemented in today's society! To form pairs with those who you have a liking to?" he chuckles menacingly, balling his fist. "I know not when to meet my end… never shall I look upon others with favor!"

Basically, what he's trying to say is that he's also a loner like me who has no friends to form up together with and he also has problems with people so that makes talking very hard for him.

I sighed.

"What do you want, Zaimokuza?"

"Aha, so you _do_ know him!" Oh stuff it Yui.

"Who is he?" Yukinoshita asks me.

But I'm not the one who answered her,

"I am the Blademaster General," he's seriously thinking he's holding a sword? "Zaimokuza Yoshiteru!"

The three of us looked at Zaimokuza weirdly, hell, this is weirder than anything I've seen today.

"I think your friend wants something from you." I heard Yukinoshita say and I have a feeling that she's right.

"I guess… and for your information, he's not my friend." Well, unless he considers me to be one.

"Indeed, I have no friends." Yup, totally not friends. "Eh, seriously, I'm lonely."

I know it's like the pot calling the kettle back but… wow, that's actually _really_ sad.

"Anyway, Naruto, I have a question, is this not the Service Club's room?" now his intention is somewhat clearer.

"Yes, this is indeed our club's room." Yukinoshita answers.

"…"

We all stared at him.

"I thought so!" he looked at me, as if I was the one who answered him. "If the words of scholar Hiratsuka are to be trusted, Naruto, you are fully obligated to fulfill my wish, yea?" he crosses his arms, giving me a smile.

I don't like that smile.

"Truly, who would have thought that the amazing Naruto would allow himself to stoop as low as helping people? I reckon that there are greater callings for you, but you chose to stay here amongst men, truly, you are a Buddha."

I didn't have to see Yui and Yukinoshita to see the demanding look they're giving me.

Pinching the bridge of my nose, I'm thinking how I should start explaining this to these two.

In actually, I'd rather not.

"Hm… well, eh, you see… Zaimokuza here has what we call eight grader syndrome." I started just between the three of us.

"Eight grader syndrome… can't say I'm familiar with that disease. Is it mental?" asking all the right questions, aren't we, Yukinoshita?

"Yoooou could say that." I'm sorry for insulting you, Zaimokuza. "You see, eight grader syndrome is actually…

 **Boys are explaining…**

…so it's not a real disease." I finished my explanation.

"T-That made zero sense…" Yui mutters.

"So basically, he's acting out a character based from the fantasy created within the inner machinations of his mind? He's deluded?"

"Wow Yukinoshita, that's mean." I mumbled. "But that's about right."

I return back to the focus of attention, Zaimokuza himself.

"Anyway, they just happen to have the same name. His fantasy is based around the 13th Shogun of the Muromachi Shogunate, Ashikaga Yoshiteru."

"So why does he think that you're a part of his fantasy?"

"Hm… that's the thing." I scratched the back of my head as an attempt to lessen the headache that's slowly acting up. "He told me that I'm like a manga protagonist or something, you know, something straight outta Shounen Jump or something like that." I shrugged. "I don't even read that much manga, I prefer novels."

Light Novels, especially.

"I'm confused, this is just so ridiculous." I can sense Yukinoshita's honesty. Meanwhile, Yui's over there having a brain fart.

"Well, accept it, this **is** ridiculous." I said. "Well, at least his fantasies are based on history. Trust me when I say that there are people with cases that are a lot worse than his."

Wait, wait, let me think here for a moment.

If eight grader syndromes is a sickness given to people who acts like they have super powers or abilities from the anime they watch or manga they read then…

Does that mean I also have eight grader syndrome?

Because, I know for sure that shouting 'RASENGAN' while you're delivering a blue orb of destruction to your enemy is something that will only happen in a manga…

Hm… I get the feeling that I shouldn't keep on thinking about this.

"There's worse than _that_?" Yukinoshita shudders in the mental image.

"Yeah."

"Just for reference, like what?"

Like what?

"In a world where shinobi is the epitome of power and five main nations are constantly at the brink of conflict amongst each other, a man shrouded in mystery attempted to unseal the strongest Tailed Beast, the Kyuubi no Kitsune, known as a Bijuu from its previous host who was in the middle of childbirth. The mysterious man, named Uchiha Madara, succeeded in releasing the Kyuubi, used the power of the Sharingan, a curse in the form of a very powerful set of eyes, to manipulate the Kyuubi and destroy one of the main countries' village called Konohagakure no Sato. He brought chaos and terror amongst the people, and as an attempt to stop the beast, the Yondaime Hokage, the leader of Konoha, decided to seal the beast into his own son who was born that fateful night. That boy grew up a pariah's life, hated and despised for the curse he bears—oi, you're using me aren't you?"

"No, no, that was actually pretty interesting."

"Gross…" Yui looks like she's really grossed out.

Interesting my ass…

"Well, anyway, it's like that." I'll wrap it up at that.

Now I'm a hundred percent sure that I have an eighth grader syndrome. I still have my heroic tendencies and the overwhelming urge to charge into a flaming building to rescue a kid from a wardrobe… maybe I should get my psyche checked, but that's impossible, they'll just put me straight into a mental institution if I start speaking.

Hm, what are you doing, Yukinoshita?

"I more or less know why you are here. You want us to cure you from your delusions, right?"

"D-Don't get too close to him Yukinon!" it's not like he's going to bite her, Yui…

"N-No!" Zaimokuza shouts, showing discomfort. "I'm not here to ask for healing," he's back to ignoring the girls, talking only to me. "I'm here to ask for help."

This continuous showing of ignorance seems to have annoyed Yukinoshita.

"Please look over here, I am the one who talked to you after all."

"Eeek!" Ah, you're scaring him Yukinoshita.

"If you're not here to get help for your delusional thinking, then what are you here for?"

Zaimokuza, hang on bud.

"Eh…"

I see no choice but to intervene here.

"Oi, that's enough. There's no need to lower the guy's self esteem more than what he already ha-" my shoes stepped on something. I realized that it stepped onto one of the many scattered pieces of papers on the ground. I picked it up, examining it.

It's a story…? Anyway, we helped Zaimokuza pick up the rest of the papers and arranged them in order.

Now that we are all seated and calm, we're ready to hear Zaimokuza's explanation. I more or less already got what's going on.

"So this is a manuscript for a novel?" this is quite thick, but nothing compared to what I've been working on for the past few months.

I find Light Novel authors quite unfortunate as they have more rigid scheduled deadlines than a normal novel author like me. Since I'm working on a full and proper novel, my deadlines are longer and it takes a lot more time to edit and publish, giving me a breathing period before being interviewed by the fanbase.

Yes, Icha Icha has a huge fan-base especially in Japan. Internationally, or outside of Japan at least, Icha Icha is known as Make Out Paradise. I have foreign translators translating my books and I'm quite happy that the pervert's work is getting appreciated by the rest of the world.

But back to the point, these are manuscript entries for a novel and judging from the length and size, it's a Light Novel.

"You're indeed right, Naruto, these entries are for novels; Light Novels to be exact." He confirms my statement. "I plan on entering a contest for new authors, but I have no friends so I have no one to review my work."

I scratched the back of my head, placing the manuscript on a table near where I am sitting.

"If we're strictly speaking opinions… then there are a lot of internet sites for that." this is also true. I consider myself to be familiar with the works of the internet, and totally unrelated, but I was totally amazed when the internet was first invented, hell, I was impressed when the game pong first came out!

"That, I cannot do." The glasses wearing teen shakes his head at my suggestion. "That is akin to suicide for me. They are cruel, I'm afraid that I might die from hearing their critics."

"Damn you're weak…" and what's the point of asking for reviews if you don't want critics?! "But… I think that coming here is also wrong. Yukinoshita will roast you hotter than what those people could actually do."

To wrap things up, we all decided that it's best to get the manuscript photocopied from the faculty room in order to bring home with us. That way, Yukinoshita, Yui and I will have equal time reading and focus without sharing any premature thoughts with each other.

I have to admire Zaimokuza a little bit.

Ignoring his weirdness and obvious eighth grader syndrome and other delusions, he has the will to get people give honest thoughts about his work. To relate to that, the first time I showed my publisher Jiraiya's work, I was a little bit nervous. It wasn't until a few years back when I decided to make money out of Jiraiya's books. It's smut, but hey, it sells. The people liked Jiraiya's works and they asked me if they could publish it instantly. I had no problems with that, I just gave them the condition that they'll have to publish the book using the author's name Jiraiya, which has stuck as my pen name amongst my readers.

I've attended meets and interviews, hell, I even did a book signing event once; so people pretty much know who I am. It's not like I was trying to become anonymous by using Jiraiya's name, it's just that, the book is his works, so he at least deserves that much. Jiraiya, during his life, had written about four books and I've released the four of them as of this year. Now, I'm on the progress of making a fifth one. Interestingly enough, during my three year training trip with the pervert when he was still alive, he had me work on the fifth book instead of him. He praised me for having a 'hidden' talent in writing smut. Back then, I punched the bastard for saying that, but now, I'm glad that it's put to good use.

My phone which I have kept inside my breast pocket suddenly vibrates. I stopped walking, standing still on the side of the pavement so that I wouldn't disturb people who are walking.

I picked up the call.

"Uzumaki here. Ah, Tanaka-san, yes, I'm doing well. No, I have no problem with the writing or whatsoever… but I have to say that I've been rather busy ever since yesterday. No, it's not going to affect my schedule or anything. Yes, I've been keeping well and no I'm not sick. No, no! You don't have to, I'm sure your daughter wouldn't want you to go and pick up a random guy just so that you could drive him home, I'm on the way home as we're speaking right now. Yes, I'll make sure that I'll notify you when I have any other concerns. Yes, yes. Thank you."

Sheesh… I sounded like a very important person there, not that I am unimportant…

Let's be honest here, if you learn that the author of your favorite ongoing series is dead, what will you do?

Yeah, let me tell you something. The last time something happened to me, I got hit by a truck due to my clumsiness, my fans sent death threats to the truck driver's mail box. I had him apologizing to me in the hospital crying and all. Loyalty? More like fanatics…

* * *

Hm… well… isn't this an amusing sight?

"…zzz…zzz…"

A sleeping Yukinoshita Yukino. I wonder, how much would a picture of her sleeping face sell? Just in case, I took a quick and silent snap of her face for later use.

The club leader is sleeping and she looks adorable while doing so. I have to admit, when she's not yapping her mouth, acting like an overly important person and being a plain dick to me, she is quite adorable. But as much as I found this situation fun, I don't think that I should be enjoying it this much.

I rattled the chair I am currently sitting on purposely so that she would wake up and she did. I heard the sound of the door opening and Zaimokuza is finally here. He took a seat and shortly later, Yui enters the room, bringing along her own copy of the story. Obviously, out of the three of us, only Yui didn't read the manuscript, and I know that Yukinoshita knows that I know she knows that Yui didn't read the manuscript.

"Now then," he crossed his arms, as if as a way to prepare himself for the critics he's about to receive. "let us hear your opinions, shall we?"

Something is flipped inside of me and it must have been my author side.

"I'm sorry, I am not familiar with these kinds of things…"

Wow, saying sorry before you spit straight fire into him? That's ICE cold Yukinoshita…

"No matter! I want to hear your opinions no matter what!" dude, you already confirmed your death and now you're basically setting up your own funeral here.

"Okay." Yukinoshita nods.

Wait for it…

"It's trash."

Now there's the Yukinoshita I hate and have no love for.

"In fact, it's painful to read. It's shittier than anything I could ever imagined about and I actually compared your work to that of a five year old's work and I still found out that this one is trashier than that."

"GAH!" UWOOH! Zaimokuza just took straight damage with that one! "F-For future reference, can you please tell which part was trashy?" okay dude, now you're just sending yourself to hell.

"First, you need to work on your grammar. Do you really have to use hyperbaton in every sentence? The subject comes first in a sentence, SVO, subject, verb, object; did you not learn about that in elementary?"

"I-It's to keep the writing friendly and simple to the readers—"

"You can actually do that by learning proper Japanese. Now as for Kanji readings, I don't even know where to start. You're abusing them like a father who condones domestic violence. The characters for 'ability' cannot be read as 'power', and there is no kanji related to the word 'nightmare' in the name 'Bloody Nightmare Slasher'."

Ooh! I'll give you ten points for that one, Yukinoshita.

"N-No, you see, modern writings are a must for battle scenes—"

"And why does the heroine take off her clothes here? There is absolutely no need for her to do that here. It's disgusting."

"Eeek!" another damage taken… out of a thousand more. "B-But without service like that—"

"And don't make people read stories that you haven't finished writing. Maybe we should work on your common sense first instead of your writing."

Well, get rekt m8. gg no re.

"GYAAAAAAH!"

I feel sorry for him.

"I think that's enough for now, Yukinoshita." I deadpanned. "Laying out the facts all at once is kind of… well, it's cruel."

"I still have things to say, but whatever." She sighs.

You just roasted him for twenty minutes straight, what more do want girl?!

"So, I guess it's time for Yuigahama-san to voice her thoughts."

"Eh, me?" Yui looks confused, but then she realizes what's going on. "Um…"

I'm pretty sure that she's feeling sorry for Zaimokuza. He's literally on the ground right now, on the verge of breaking down.

"Y-You know a lot of difficult kanji."

"GYAAAAH!"

Another citadel hit, huh? I guess everything's basically a critic at this point for him.

"N-Next, Maki, you go next!" she throws the burden at me.

Well now… why is something rising? It's not Jesus and it's nothing perverted but… I have this overwhelming urge to crush Zaimokuza's hopes and dreams at this very moment.

"Naruto… you can understand it, right?"

Aw don't give me that look man, now you'll make me feel guilty!

I smiled.

Zaimokuza looks up at me with hope.

"So, you do know that plagiarizing is a crime, right?"

 **Ding Ding Ding! K.O!**

Zaimokuza has a brain aneurysm the moment I dealt the finishing blow. He's now rolling on the ground mumbling gibberish.

Yukinoshita looks at me with cold eyes. "You're merciless aren't you?"

I do feel guilty for making him like this, but a part of me feels highly satisfied. I just destroyed the hopes and dreams of my fellow student and he could very well be dejected over it, but the guilt I'm feeling is not the worse.

Yui shares the same look as Yukinoshita, only less colder. "Hey… isn't that a little bit too harsh?"

Harsh? Harsh?! I'll show you harsh…

On second thought, let us not. I don't want Zaimokuza to feel even worse and abandon society so that he could flee to the mountains and join a temple in order to become a shugendo monk. Sighing, I approached the dejected guy and patted his shoulder.

"Well, since you're doing an LN, as long as the illustrations are good, nothing else matters."

* * *

I always believe in hard work.

Though there are some cases of genius people out there, I want to believe that some of them worked hard in order to be called a genius.

Never give up, stand up for yourself, believe in your dreams… we all hear these phrases all too commonly when we're struggling in life. I have been hearing these phrases all too often, you can say that I was built upon these saying. Who I am today, who I am now, what I've become now… it would not be possible without these sayings. I also have my friends and precious people to thank for. But… now that I'm the last of my kind, the last shinobi, these three core sayings have been having slight… turbulences in my life.

My life as an immortal is a cruel one. I get to meet many people, but I will always outlive them. This is one of the reasons why I avoid getting women pregnant. I don't want them to bear my child. I don't want to outlive my family, my children especially… I guess no parents in the world would want that. With what little parental attention I have when I was young, I know that I have no rights to say that. But from seeing and hearing, I can tell that that is indeed true.

Seeing these people around me, fellow students or not, I cannot help but envy them. How lucky, they get to feel the happiness I probably will never be able to feel. I don't hate myself for being immortal, but I do hate myself for not being able to completely move on. Moving on from all of those memories, the people I cherished… is **hard**. Even until now, I have occasional dreams regarding them. But I don't hate myself for not being able to save them anymore. I stopped doing that a long time ago.

Ever since then, I never really believed in prophecies. What I do believe in is myself and the people around me whom I have given my trust to. Though they are not everlasting or eternal, I'll do my best to treasure every little moment I have with them.

Meeting Yukinoshita is no coincidence. It's not fate either. It's a scene I'm all too familiar with, scenes that I have been watching for countless of times. It's like pressing the replay button on a remote.

I know that I'll have to move on from this scene and progress, but I know as well that at some point later, I will have to go back to this very same scene, repeated, but with different people.

Live. Laugh. Repeat.

That's what I like to say about my life now.

"Will you read my writing again?"

We are all outside the school. It's already noon and we're all ready to return home. Zaimokuza looks up at us, a pleading look fixed on his face. I saw something amid that look, I saw something in his eyes. And it is passion.

"Are you a masochist?" Yui mumbles.

"You've still got the balls to try again?" I asked.

"Of course!" The trench coat wearing teen declares without the slightest hint of disappointment in his voice. "You may have condemned it, but there's no denying the happiness within me."

That surprises all of us.

"Having someone to read something I enjoyed writing and hearing that opinions is a very nice thing." He says.

I cannot help but smirk.

"Got it, but next time, please try to improve your writing, grammar and vocabulary before showing us anything. Otherwise it'd be useless." I don't want to see him writhing on the ground again, it's too sad.

I saw him grin. "Farewell!" he strikes a pose, thumbs pointing upwards and his silhouette emphasized by the setting sun. His trench coat billows and flaps from the light breeze. "I shall bring you more when I have improved myself!"

Yeah… not only does this guy has eight grader's syndrome, he also has an author syndrome too. I don't have that since I'm a legit author. He writes because he wants to write something and I can admire him just for that. His persistence and die hard nature of wanting to see his work improving are examples of what I could admire from him even more.

I saw Zaimokuza flailing his arms around, as if he's casting a spell. And I saw him smile in satisfaction before walking away from the school grounds.

…apart of his cringy antics, I can admire him.

* * *

 **A few days later**

* * *

"My hips… M-M-My hips…!"

I'm helping this big boned glasses wearing author wannabe stretch in gym class. For some reason, I'm stuck with him again today.

"Naruto… who do you think is the current best illustrator for light novel series out there?" he asks me.

…is this guy for real?

I sighed loudly. Not like anyone can hear me, we're outside after all. "Don't get ahead of yourself. Think about that after you actually win the award."

We switched position into arm stretching.

"If it sells, and it could get an anime, do you think I could marry a voice actress?"

"Shut up, it's not happening if you don't write any damn thing." This guy's pretty heavy.

"If it sells, think I can paint the town red every night?"

"Yeah, fat chance!" whoa, I snapped there.

If I paid closer attention to my surroundings… I would have noticed a cute girl looking at my direction.

* * *

 **I like this chapter. Why? Because this chapter shows that I won't be copy pasting the original plot with Naruto being the main character. I was actually pretty surprised to see some of you thinking that I'll just go along with the main plot with no major changes or anything like that. Well, let this chapter show you that I will not do exactly that.**

 **Sure, you'll see canon scenes, but you have to realize how early we are in the story. I don't plan on making this story as a written version of the original plot with Naruto as the main character, that'd be straight plagiarizing. This is fanfiction and I intend for it to be just that, a fan's fiction story. You won't see anything just yet, but don't whine, you haven't even seen half of the entire story yet.**

 **1: This is actually a real criminal law article that they have installed in Japan.**

 **2: A Japanese saying that basically means that you're an idiot if you're dumb enough to never catch colds.**

 **3: Yamato is just another word for Japan. There are many words used to refer to Japan as a country.**

… **and to those of you who're worried that you won't see Komachi…**

 **Who said anything about leaving her out of this story?**


	3. Love, Ace and Regret

"Alright, go and find a pair!"

Ah, I hate .

I watched as everyone else but me walking off in pairs, Zaimokuza is excluded since he's not really a sports person. Today is free sports, which means that we get to do any field sports we want. Normally, I find to be the perfect class to revitalize my reflexes. But when you can do half the shit that I could, playing soccer, tennis, badminton and dodge ball is the same as playing freeze tag.

Sixteen years ago, I was a member of America's S.W.A.T team. Unexpected, huh? But at that time, I was still active in the west and I just happened to quit my previous job as a day trader. Hey, while its fun making money in every single minute there is, it gets boring if you have to sit your ass near the computer all day especially if you're an active person like I am. I joined S.W.A.T simply because the job is not as risky as being a soldier. I actually considered joining the marines, but I would have gone through a lot of troublesome stuffs to even be recognized as a part of the military.

So, yeah, anything that involves the military is basically a huge no-no for me. Direct involvements, at least.

My first few years in S.W.A.T were… eventful, to say the least. The 90's in the U.S was not a quiet year, after all. While the military's kicking ass in the Gulf over at the Middle East, I was busy doing some swatting on your local armed robbery or drug related crime. Made some good friends, some were jerks and some good. In S.W.A.T, I got to… _relieve_ the inner fighter in me. Though it's not as straightforward or as action packed as my previous experience in fighting, I get to feel some action after a long time.

It's Special Weapons And _Tactics_ , after all, not Special Weapons And Curb-stomping-violence.

I joined S.W.A.T in 1997 and I quit four years later. After 9/11… things… got even more troublesome for everyone. National security became tighter, people were paranoid and if you're working for the law, there was no rest for you. Calls were more often, and protocols became stricter. I got more action, but it quickly turned grey for me. The chief asked why I suddenly wanted to quit and I told him that 'things aren't going well with the way I am now'. The chief didn't ask or say anything against or about my reason, hell if it could be called a reason at all, but I was discharged with minimal honor.

Ever since then… I never really consider taking law enforcement as a career choice because let's be honest here. I can get money easily in fifty different ways, but at that point, it wasn't about the money anymore.

It's about my lackluster life.

Starting 2002… I moved to Japan and ever since then, life has been… peaceful for me. I decided that it was time for a change of pace so I took on the identity as an elementary school student. I spent six years in Japanese elementary school, it was 2008 by that point. I also took three years to graduate from junior high, 2011. Now… it's 2013 and I'm at my second year of high school.

Time sure does fly fast if you got things to do.

…still, all of the thinking I've done would not explain why I'm playing tennis with a wall at the moment.

I sighed, lowering my racket a little bit. The ball bounces off the wall, but I didn't bother hitting it back. This is boring. A few guys invited me to play soccer with them, but I don't think I'll play by the rules. Some were even doing track and fields and they asked me to do a sprint with one of their best, but I rejected since I'm not wearing my running shoes at the moment. The baseball coach even asked me to join the club, but that's a matter for another day.

So, in the end, I'm stuck with shadow training.

Wow, good job on making yourself look like a total loner, me.

But this is not at all bad. At the pace I'm going, playing wall tennis is like a good form of training too. But it's not much of a work out; really… maybe I should go mountain climbing again this summer? I did a cross country swimming before, but Japan and South Korea aren't really far away… maybe I should bring that fatass Zaimokuza with me, nah, he'll just die on the way to the harbor.

"That shot was totally cool! You so gotta teach me that!"

"Nah, I don't really do anything great. I just happened to slice it the right way."

Oh yeah, I'm not the only one using the tennis field.

"Dude, that was totally a magic shot you just did! I gotta do something crazy too!"

I hear the idiot dribbling the ball.

"Here we go, Magic Slice Shot!"

…I'm a very sensitive person, in all sorts of ways. When imminent danger is looming over me, I'd know about it before it could even do anything to harm me. For example, when I'm about to be shot forty yards away by a sniper rifle, I'd know about it, I'd hear the clicking of the trigger, the gun shot itself, the sound of hot empty bullet casing hitting the floor and the bullet itself slicing the air.

What about a green, bouncy tennis ball, you ask?

Well,

I didn't bother turning, the ball is falling at me after all. With a swift swipe, I snatched the ball in mid-air, stunning my audience.

"UWOOOOOOOH!" I supposed that's the idiot who served the ball right at my direction? "That was so sick dude! Hey, Hayato, you saw that?!"

"Y-Yeah… it was."

I looked at the squishy green ball in my hand and I frowned. If this is what it takes to impress people nowadays, then I'm not surprised that scripted action movies are popular. They make everything look good in Hollywood…

"Hey, eh," of course the idiot does not know who I am. "Uzuki-kun! Can you throw that at us, dude?"

Uzuki? Who the hell is Uzuki…

Without saying anything, I lobbed the ball over to them. One particular boy receives the ball and smiles at me. "Thanks Uzuki-kun!"

I shrugged, not knowing what to say. It's not like I know them anyway… but that last guy sure is familiar, have we met before? Oh well, not important.

Sighing, I took my own tennis ball and resumed my wall practice. I look at the wall and glared.

"I'll trump over you myself, wall."

* * *

My school is located near the shore.

When lunchtime comes, the wind changes direction. In the morning, the salty sea breeze blows in, and as though returning to whence it came, it blows back out to the sea. This is not so bad and feeling the wind is one of the few things that I enjoy doing.

Maybe I'm turning into Shikamaru, minus the cloud watching gag. Or maybe it's my personal connection to the wind.

I am a wind natured ninja, a rare trait for someone who lives in a place called the Land of Fire. The only wind natured ninja I knew of was Sarutobi Asuma-sensei, Shikamaru's jonin instructor. Though he and I only shared a few words, he was a good man. And just like many other good men back then… he died a terrible death. The look on Shikamaru's face was enough to tell me that his teacher did not die a quick death. It was cruel, long and painful. Hidan… man, isn't he immortal?

Anyway, as someone who's completely compatible with his innate nature, it's right to say that the wind is my element. I can feel myself feeling more refreshed and calm, completely different from my usual easy going and borderline lazy as fuck attitude. This is not one of those cliché or cheesy things that you'll hear me say, because it's been proven.

Those with fire nature tend to feel more comfortable when they are on the heat of battle, both figuratively and literally. Water natured people are usually more effective and refined in a damp or watery environment, because their technique requires the presence of water. Lightning natured people are better off on the move in a wide and open space, preferably where the sky is open to them, and earth natured people connects with the land around them.

Fortunately for me, I am a Sage. The elements I mentioned above pertains to nature and as a sage, I am connected to nature. With Sage Mode on, I can feel every living thing up to a certain range, I can connect and understand animal better and everything from nature tolerates me. It's a nice feeling, but also a terrible one at that.

The last time I tried using Sage Mode, just for the hell of it, was a few months back. Upon activating it, I felt sick and nauseas. I actually thought that I might have gotten sick for real, but no, that's not the case. It's because of Sage Mode. I was used to having pure natural energy everywhere around me, so that when I activated Sage Mode, I can just directly channel it and use it. But it seems that I can no longer do that now.

The air around me is corrupted, sick and vile. The amount of negativity that I felt in Sage Mode was nothing when compared to Kurama, but it was still something. I found it funny that things grew worse, looks like all that war that happened in the past decades took a lot more than just lives, money and freedom.

"Hey, if it isn't Maki!"

Stopping halfway from putting more noodles into my mouth, I spotted Yui walking towards me.

Hm, what does she wants with me?

"What are you doing here?" I asked, switching my instant ramen for my bottled tea.

"Well, you know, I totally lost a bet against Yukinon," she takes a seat on the empty spot beside me. "so it's like, losers pay? And whoa, I never thought that I'd finally see the day someone eating instant ramen at school…"

"Hm, I'll eat whatever I like and wherever I want. And they ran out of noodles to make ramen today, so I can't help but to pull out a few from my stash."

"Don't talk about it as if you have a locker dedicated to instant ramen." I only give her one of my best dry looks. "Uwah, you totally do!"

I can't get over how enthusiastic Yui is, but it's a part of her charm I guess. "So, is that why you're talking to me? As a part of the losing conditions?" if so, I know that Yukinoshita is a jerk but I never thought that she'd go as far as to make Yui do this.

"No! no, no!" Yui waves her hand to deny my conclusion immediately. "Loser buys drinks. That's all!"

Eh… but I'm sure the thought ran across the girl's head, I mean, this is Yukinoshita after all.

"At first, Yukinon's all like," Yui begins to impersonate our resident ice queen. "'I can acquire my own nourishment by myself. I fail to see how satisfying a faint lust of conquest can bring true satisfaction'" then Yui returns back to her own persona. "And she didn't want to do it at first."

"Well, that totally sound like her, and good job on mimicking her."

"But after I said, 'don't think you can win', she accepted immediately!" Yui says. "I didn't know that Yukinon is competitive."

"Everyone is competitive in their own ways." I said whilst lowering my now empty cup of ramen. "Some are just competitive in weird stuff that you don't see commonly."

"Such as?"

"Such as… well, for once, I'm a very competitive sports player." This is kind of true. "But not when I'm feeling lazy… however, if let's say… some prick challenged me into a match of one V one soccer by insulting my name, I wouldn't hesitate to wipe the field with his ass."

Yui sweat drops. "Uwah… I didn't know that you're competitive too, Maki. I thought you only sleep in your break or something. And soccer? Do you play it, it sounds mainstream…"

Apologize to the soccer players who make millions of dollars just by playing a single match! But I do get what Yui means. Soccer is kind of a mainstream choice for sports in almost anything, hell, I think everything that involves a ball is quite mainstream. Besides, I'm not one for competitive sports in the first place. I prefer extreme sports like wingsuit flying, parachuting, skiing and all that.

"Hey, everybody has a sport of their favorite. You are, after all, the Nolan North of your favorite sport." **(1)**

"No…lan… North…? Who is he?"

"He's a voice actor."

"Oh, what anime does he voice for?"

"…I… don't know." I honestly don't. "Anyway, Yui, aren't you going back to Yukinoshita, now?"

To my confusion, Yui is startled by my question. Her face turns red and her eyes are wide with surprise. What's with the surprise, wasn't she supposed to bring some drinks back to Yukinoshita? No matter how much I dislike that girl, keeping a person waiting is a little bit dickish and I have always hated that part of Kakashi when I was younger.

"O-Oh!" she almost jumps a little. Then, she seems downcast. "Do… do you not like me here with you?"

I furrowed my eyebrows. What does that have anything to do with giving drinks to Yukinoshita?

"No, it's not like that." I found myself scratching my neck, for some reason. "Maybe, you'd be bored talking to me? I don't have that much topic to talk about, anyway."

Unless you want me to pop all them dank memes.

Yui shakes her head and I found myself looking at her. "No, you're not boring, Maki." She says to me in the straightest voice I can imagine her say. "You're… a fun person to talk to and I enjoy talking with you." her face turns red again. "B-But it's not like I mean anything by that, o-okay? I just really, really like talking with you!"

Well aren't you fired up…

So she finds me interesting and not boring, unlike Yukinoshita.

"Huh, is that so?"

"Yeah."

Hm…

I seriously don't know what to say to her. In all of my years living in Japan, I didn't bother trying to make friends. I see 'friends' as a temporary connection now that I'm immortal. I'll just live to hear the news of their deaths, attend their funeral ceremony and move on whilst having to accept the fact that they are dead. Imagine doing that for… the past centuries. It's not healthy. You gain something and you lose something, it's not healthy in terms of friendship. It's inconsistent.

I've moved on from countless of names, among those were my friends whom I fought alongside with during the 4th Shinobi War. A long time ago, I decided that I wouldn't make any real connections with people. Maybe I'll just hang out with them and do stuffs with them, but that's just about it. I don't want to feel more miserable than what I already am by having to hear their deaths fifty or sixty years later. Fifty years? More like five years. Sixty years? Try six years. It's that short for me.

But I am human.

I refuse to let my status as an immortal change who I really am. I am not Madara who wants to play God and make other people's lives miserable. I'm just a man who even Death has no mercy for. I don't know if he's doing it because of my failure, but I know that I do not deserve this. And as a human, I need connection. I need people to associate. I need other humans to talk to. I need to live with humans. I can't just go and become Tarzan or something and live with apes.

Though that'd be fun to experience.

But… I just can't bear all of that burden.

For millennia, I have carried thousands of names on my shoulders. Until now, I want to try to not dismiss them only as a part of my memories. I no longer have longing attachments, sure, but the me inside can't help but do opposite of that. I forgot how to smile a smile I was famous for. I forgot how to make promises that I'd usually try my hardest to keep. But at the same time, I grew more distant to the me from back then.

I have considered myself dead inside for a long time now. And to hear Yui say that she has a lot of fun talking to someone who's already dead inside…

My amber was reignited.

For her, I try to smile. I try to smile **that** smile.

"Thank you, Yui."

"O-Oh…!"

…

…

…

"U-Uhm…!"

I raised one eyebrow.

"Maki, do you… do you have…" she's awfully flustered. "do you have… someone… you… eh… like?"

Someone I like, eh?

I nod.

"Yeah, you."

I saw her froze. Gee, could her face get any redder than that?

"Wha-Wha-Wha-Wha-What do you mean?! Y-Y-Y-You like me?! Th-That's—!"

"I like talking with you too, it's fun."

She doesn't hit me like Hiratsuka-sensei, she's not a jerk like Yukinoshita and she's not cringe like Zaimokuza.

"O-Oh… I-I see…" she finally calms down. But she's frowning now.

I was about to ask her why, but a voice interrupted us.

"Oh?"

From the distant, a person of short stature is approaching us. She's got short and somewhat shaggy silver hair, a soft round face, round big, sparkling blue eyes and a light skin tone. She is wearing the school's gym uniform with a white shirt underneath the upper part of the track suit which has a pair of short pants as variant. She also wears a pair of black spats too, from what I could see. Around her neck and what she's currently using is a small hand towel used to rub sweat off the skin. On her other hand, she's carrying a purple tennis racket.

"Oh, Sai-chan!"

Hm, it seems that Yui knows this person.

Yui stands up and raises a hand to greet 'Sai-chan'. "Yo!"

"Yo…" 'Sai' replies in a much softer voice. "What are you two doing here?" she asks us.

"N-Nothing, really! Hehehe…" it seems that Yui's avoiding the question, I see no reason why she'd do that really. "You practicing, Sai-chan?"

"Um." She nods with a smile on her face.

"You practice at club and during lunch, and you picked tennis for gym too, right? Must be hard on you."

I watched as 'Sai' shakes her head, letting a few droplet of sweat hit the ground.

Hm… what is this feeling?

"No, not really. I play tennis because I like it. While we're at it," her gaze turns to me. "you're pretty good at tennis aren't you, Uzumaki-kun?"

I blinked several times, making sure if I heard her right. "Huh?"

Yui squats down to look at me. "He is?"

Haaah… such little faith in me.

"Yeah!" 'Sai' says. "His form is perfect and his returns are all perfectly executed!"

Now, now, you're making me blush.

"Now, now, you're just flattering me." I tried to laugh it off, but it just turned awkward. "And… you are?"

I'm disappointed in myself of not knowing such a polite and cute looking girl.

"What?!" that's from Yui who's beside me. "We're all from the same class, I can't believe you!" she sounds disappointed in me, trust me Yui, I am too.

"Ahahaha… I'm from the same class, Totsuka Saika." She introduces herself to me. "Nice to meet your acquaintance, Uzumaki-kun."

So polite…

"Uh…" I looked away. "I'm don't really mingle much with girls." I don't really mingle much with the boys either.

"Eh… er… I'm a boy, actually."

I swear I just did a Kiyoshi Fujino. **(2)**

"Can… can you repeat that?" I found myself asking.

"Huh? What?"

"What you just said."

"Eh… I'm a boy?"

I stood up, cupped my palms around my mouth and shouted to the heavens,

"DAMN YOU HAKUUUUUUUUU!"

I sat back down, recomposing myself as if nothing happened.

"What… was that?" Yui asks me.

But instead of answering her, I stood up again, gathered my trash with me, and turned to leave.

"Excuse me for the time being but, I need to check my sexuality."

The two of them watch me walking away in a crooked line.

"Oh…" both Totsuka and Yui mutter as one, in confusion.

* * *

Why… must life be so confusing?

Why can't boys be boys and girls be girls? Why can't everyone just not look deceiving, god damn it! The first time I met Haku, I thought he was a girl. But he wasn't and it hit me like a ton of bricks. Then there's Ryuuzetsu too, I thought she was a he and I thought we could've been best bros or something, but no, he's a girl.

All of these traps man, they're driving me insane.

It's again and I'm back to wall practice over here at the furthest corner of the court. I lowered my racket and sighed. Today's been a whole new yet old experience for me. In deep thinking, I am snapped back to reality by a tap on my shoulder. "Huh?" I turned around, and something poked my cheek.

"Hehehe, you fell for it!" Totsuka says cheekily, while sticking out his tongue.

I swear I just saw butterflies and flowers around him for a moment.

What is this feeling? It's as if I'm falling into a place I should never ever fall into but… it's not that bad.

This guy's way too cute, I mean, who does the cheek poking finger thing these days anyway? Crap, it just makes him even cuter though. Like a small pet or something.

"What's up?" I asked hesitantly.

"Well…" he starts to fidget like a familiar purple haired girl from my time. "You see, my usual partner for gym is absent today so…" he's all sparkles and glitters to me now. "…will you do it with me?"

No, no, don't say it like that.

I managed to force a smile out. "Yeah, sure, let's practice."

Totsuka cheers up and nods. "Yeah, lets!"

As far as tennis goes, I'm not a real pro at it. All I know is that you have to serve and hit the ball until it hits your opponent's part of the court and make sure he doesn't hit the ball back at you in order to score a point. I've been doing that for the few rounds. Totsuka is, unexpectedly, good as far as tennis goes. His reflexes are not bad, but he lacks focus. He's too drawn to the ball, resulting in him ignoring his opponent.

For shinobis, this is a huge no-no. But this sport is practically harmless if played carefully. He can return slow shots and direct his shots too, making our match more interesting. But as far as stamina and speed… he needs improvement. Practicing with Totsuka must have flipped the instructor switch in me. I really want to see determined people like Totsuka improve in their work. We did about four more matches and then we're done.

I sat on the bench with minimal fatigue. I've done way more exhilarating stuffs than just tennis, so it'll take… twenty more games to tire me out. I used my towel to wipe the sweat off my neck, forehead and face in overall.

Totsuka took a seat next to me, he's tired, but something tells me he'd done more. "You're really good at tennis!" he praises me. "Have you considered in becoming a pro?"

"A pro at tennis? I can barely follow the rules." I said. "I just play because it seems fun to play with you, and it was."

"O-Oh…" hm… strange, he reminds me of Yui for some reason and… isn't he sitting a tad too close? Not that I'm complaining.

A few seconds of silence reigned over us, but Totsuka finds the courage to break it himself.

"Um… actually, can I ask you a favour, Uzumaki-kun?" he asks me. Judging from the melancholic expression he's making, I'd say that it has something to do with his club or just tennis in general.

"What is it?"

"It's about our tennis club, haven't you heard, and about how it's really weak. We don't have many members either and when the third years graduate, our state will only become worse than what it already is now." That confirms my suspicion. "So, um… will you join the tennis club?"

I can't say I'm surprised, because I'm not.

While I have nothing against becoming the school's Roger Federer, I really don't see it as something that I'll enjoy doing. I mean, sure, I get to help Totsuka, but I feel that he should be doing that himself. If he wants to make the tennis club great, then he should do so through his own power and capabilities and not other people. It's not wrong to ask for help, but it won't be helping if I do all the magic by myself. How can one learn without even experiencing the real thing?

Let's say that I'll join the club. What then? Will I play for the team, I definitely will. Will the tennis club survive, of course it will. But will Totsuka feel satisfied?

I don't think so.

Satisfaction is impossible if you don't bleed, sweat and cry for your goals. I know that so well, I can rightfully preach about it in public.

"I'll… think about it."

* * *

"Think no more of it. It's impossible."

Uwaah… she's glaring at me.

"Come on, Yukinoshita, it's just for a while." I said, sounding a little bit whiny. "Look…"

But she stops me before I could say more.

"You heard me."

"No, hear me out, they want me to help around and oil the gears in their head." I was also thinking that this might be a way to quit this club formally, with the tennis club as a front.

And no, I'm not just doing this because Totsuka asked me too, well he did, but that's not the point!

"Look, Yukinoshita, can't I just do it for their sake?"

I received a somewhat skeptic look from Yukinoshita. There's slight disbelief in her eyes and I think I know why. "Hoh? That's unexpected, who would've thought that you'd help someone solely for the sake of helping?"

"Can you blame me?" my voice came out smaller than what it usually did. "I'm a simple man, if I see someone in trouble, I'll help. No matter who or what the problem is, I'll try my damn best to help."

The look I received from Yukinoshita transformed into something more analytical. "And pray tell how are you going to help them?"

I did not hesitate to tell her of my plans.

"It's simple really." I started. "Totsuka is well versed in tennis more than I do, but he lacks the physical prowess to back any skill he has. I'll be the one to act out all the moves that he wants me to show."

Her skeptic look returns. "What makes you so sure that you're capable of replicating a tennis move by simply his instructions?"

I tapped my forehead. "Observation and keen understanding. I may not look like it, but I'm sharp when it comes to practical stuff. My genius does not lies in theoretical knowledge, I'm more of a 'see and do' kind of person. I'm very observant to the point I'm able to discern most hidden details on a person and come up with a deduction from them."

"Oh? Care to prove?"

She asks for it…

"Well, for starters, let's start with the way you sit down. You bend your body forward in an eighty eight degree angle because you need to have a clearer look on your book. The way you squint your eyes suggests that you are slightly far sighted. Lately, you've been leaving the club room far more often, twice a day in fact, maybe more when I'm not around. Judging by the time of month and my personal knowledge with women's menstruation cycle… you're currently on your period. This is the fourth day, if, I'm not wrong."

I can see the surprise, shock and disbelief in her face. It's not even restrained, I just made her show deliberate surprise. Her eyes are wide and I can see the blood draining from her face, but it quickly returns, probably due to embarrassment from having her… period revealed.

She inches away from me, her shock transforming into fear.

"N-No, wait here, you asked for it!" I emphasized the word 'asked'. "I can't help but be straightforward and blunt because I need to prove that I'm observant!" seriously, the last thing I need here is for her to report this to Hiratsuka-sensei under the assumption that I've been stalking her or whatever.

I do not want that. I already have this deranged pervert kind of reputation with that woman, and I definitely did not need it to drop lower.

"I-I-I…" she's literally at loss for words. I can't blame her, the last person I 'analyzed' was also like this. "I… don't know what to say other than the fact that you're a total creep."

My shoulders visibly sagged.

"But… you're sharp. Way sharper than I thought you were, you're potentially dangerous, Uzumaki-kun, to a point where I'm considering of changing the way I act whenever you're around."

I snorted. "Trust me, you're not the first to try and do that."

Before our conversation could resume, the door to our club room slides open, revealing Yui and a surprising visitor.

"Yo!" Yui cheers, waving a hand.

"Eh, Uzumaki-kun?" Voila, it's the original topic of conversation himself, Totsuka. "What are you doing here?"

I completely butchered any attention I had paid to Yukinoshita and immediately focused on Totsuka. "I'm a member of this club." Unfortunately. "Why are _you_ here?"

Of course, Yui has to be the one who answered.

"Well, you know, I'm a part of the Service Club too, right?" she says while placing a hand on her chest. "So, I thought I'd do something for the club! And Sai-chan looked like he needed help, so I brought him here."

I see… but… doesn't she realized yet?

"Yuigahama-san."

"Ah, no need to thank me, Yukinon!" she looks sheepish. "I only did what's right as a member of this club!"

I assure you, thanking you would be the last thing on her mind right now, Yui.

"Yuigahama-san, you aren't actually a member of this club."

…must you make everything sound blunt, Yukinoshita? Well, I'm one to say…

"E-Eh?! I'm not?! What do you mean I'm not?! Do you hate me Yukinon!?" she's like a fifth grader who's been denounced a friendship by her best friend.

She's not? It's not like those stories where she's suddenly a member of the club all of a sudden? Huh, good to know. If this story is more mainstream than what it is already, then I'd be totes disappointed.

Yukinoshita nods. "Correct. I never received any recruitment request letter or moderator approval, so you are not an official member of this club."

Reminded me of a grade school's clique.

"I'll write a recruitment request letter right now!" Yui begins pulling out her stationaries and papers. "I'll write as many as you want!"

While Yui's busy filling out forms, Yukinoshita quickly addresses the situation.

"So you are Totsuka Saika-kun?"

"U-Um."

All of us settled down as Totsuka explains his situation to Yukinoshita.

"Very well, we accept your request." Yukinoshita says whilst standing up. "We just need to assist you in improving your technique, correct?"

"Yes. If I work harder, I'm sure that the rest will do so too." our resident trap says with little determination.

"So, how will we do this, Yukinoshita?" I asked.

"We'll do half of what you suggested and half of what I have in mind." I don't like that smile she has on her face and I don't know what she has in her mind, but here's what I know:

It's going to be a loooong day.

* * *

And a long day it was. Believe me, when I say we did everything we could, we really did everything in our power. Yukinoshita's plan is this: she's going to overlook Totsuka's overall performance since she has knowledge on tennis, no surprise there. She'll need me as 'tool' to act her orders out. In short, I'm being used as a reference in picture instruction manual. It's not a problem for me, in fact, I'm quite glad to be able to help Totsuka this way and it serves as a good exercise too.

Since we took this job as a club and Yui's now an official member of the Service Club, she's also subjected to training. Yukinoshita did minimal physical related work since she's mostly there to give orders and then there's also the thing about her having a period. Of course, Yui's not that good with physical work out, no surprise. Our 'training' regime is light, nothing extreme. Running laps, practice on every break period and even after school. I have a clone working my manuscript ever since we started Totsuka's training request, something I should've done weeks ago.

I should worry about my book's progress, because I don't want people from management to chew me out again. I'm not threatened by dismissal or anything, it's just that, they get whiny from the slightest things! For example… Jiraiya's second book had a cliffhanger style ending and they were pissed off about that. I didn't even write that book so, I didn't know what to do! People are just… weird in some ways.

Anyway, back to Totsuka's progress, he's been doing better. The training we've given him proved to be useful because he can keep up with me, even if I'm holding back, **a lot**. His form is a lot sturdier and his focus is no longer fixed to the ball only. But I'm impressed at how quick Totuska managed to improve.

And it seems that our training has also attracted the attention of a certain wannabe writer.

Seriously, what are you doing, Zaimokuza?

Since I don't really want to know, I won't ask.

And so with that, the days passed… and our tennis practice entered its second phase.

"Ow!"

"Sai-chan, are you okay?!"

"I-I'm fine, so let's keep practicing."

Training is not without pain, after all. I offered Totsuka my hand he takes it and dusts himself off. He sees the look on my face and decides to tough it up.

"You still want to practice?" I heard Yukinoshita asks from the sidelines.

"Yeah. You're all here for my sake, so I want to keep on trying."

"I see. Then I'll leave this to your hand, Yuigahama-san." Is the last thing she says before walking off to the tennis club's locker room.

"Oh…"

"It seems that I'm not getting better no matter how much I practice." Totsuka says with a bitter smile. "She must be tired of me."

I shrugged. "Not really, it must be her period acting u-WHOA!" I dodged a tennis racket aimed at me courtesy of the retreating ice queen. "I mean… nah, she's not that type of person."

Just how sharp is her hearing anyways?

"Um, that's right!" Yui nods in vigorous agreement. "Yukinon's not the type of person to abandon someone who's depending on her, especially halfway through like this."

"Yeah. Even your cooking wasn't enough to drive her away, in fact, it made her even more determined."

"W-What do you mean by that, Maki?!"

Yui's cookies were bad. The batch she gave to me after school when we helped her that day gave me stomach pains.

"Hehe." Totsuka giggles.

Yui's kitchen Chernobyl tendencies aside, I too have developed my culinary skills a little bit. I, for once, can make steamed ramen now! Now don't ask the difference between a steamed ramen and a normal ramen is, I don't want to make this thinking train longer than what it might turn out to be, but let's just say that it tastes delicious. Maybe I should quit being an author and open up a shop instead…? Though it won't be as profitable as my current job, I get to cook what I like to eat!

Hm… on second thought… maybe not a good idea. I can already see myself eating the entire stock of noodles rather than having customers pay for them, though I'd still be totally fine with that.

"Ohoho! It seems that you are playing tennis!"

An obnoxiously cringe voice grabs our attention. We see a blonde bimbo accompanied by her faithful sausage fest – and a girl – of an entourage. I get the feeling that I know them, but I just couldn't seem to recall where and when.

Oh and you might be asking why am I so forgetful, it's just that I don't pay attention to insignificant side characters at the moment.

Anyway, this blonde bimbo and her groupie are standing near the entrance of the court, blocking the exit. It's like we're about to do a clique war or something, the battle of the cliques or something like that. Hey, you know what? That sounds like it'll make a cool side story for my book!

Better put it into my mental note…

"Hey, mind if we play here too?" miss dolly asks.

Unexpectedly, Totsuka's the first one out of us three to speak. "Miura-san, we're not playing."

"Huh, what? I can't hear you." now she's just agitating me, for some reason.

Hm… it seems that nothing will happen if none of us say anything against her.

So I volunteered.

"Now, see here-"

The moment I stepped forward, the bimbo retreated behind her friend's back.

"…okay, now see here, Totsuka got permission to use this place, so no one else can use it at the moment." I said.

"O-Oh?" even in her cowered state, she still manages to retort. "Aren't you using it now?" it's not very convincing when she's hiding behind her friend like that…

"Well, duh." I knocked my head playfully. "That's why I said you can't use it. Use your decent sized brain or is your make up heavier than your brain?"

Savage.

"Wha?! Grr…!" she's glaring at me but she's _still_ hiding behind the glasses girl, not very convincing.

The boy next to her, a face I swore I could've seen before, laughs out as an attempt to diffuse the intensity. "Now, now, let us all play together."

Together?

Now listen here, I have no problem with everyone training together, but something tells me that training will be the last thing we'll do if your groupie joined in.

…is what I wanted to say, but, I don't need these kids to see my bad side. Something tells me that the bimbo's seen it though.

Again, if it sounds like I'm forgetful, it's because I made no attempt in remembering people with little significance in my life.

"'Together'… huh, if being together means being a disturbance to people's lives, then I'd rather be a lone wolf for the rest of my life." Oh, fun fact, wolves are better when hunting alone, hence the term lone wolf.

The pretty boy walks forward, looking sheepish. "That's not what I was trying to say, sorry, if there's anything I can help you with, just tell me."

I blinked. "What's your name?"

"Eh, me?"

"Yeah."

"Hayama Hayato."

I see… now where have I heard that name…?

"Hayama, we appreciate the concern. I can tell that you're a very nice guy, just from your looks and attitude." I restrained myself to not be very deliberate. "But at the moment, concern and niceness are two of the many things that we do not need." I gestured lazily to Totsuka with a nudge of my head. "As you can see, we're doing practices. I'm a part of the Service Club and Totsuka over there has requested our presence in helping him train. And we were training, until you interrupted us."

If I sound dickish here, let me say that I'm regretting on not intending for it to sound dickish.

"What are you trying to say here…?" Hayama asks.

"What I'm trying to say? Nothing." I said. "Helping people is nice, in fact, it's admirable." I placed a hand on his shoulder, stepping forward a little as well as offering him a smile. "But there's always a time and place for everything and right now, you're intruding on our personal time and place. And that's not very admirable, now is it?"

"N-No, it isn't…"

"Great!" I chirped while tapping his shoulder. "Now, if you'd please step off the court before I serve your intruding selves with a back hand serve."

At that moment, Zaimokuza chooses it as the right time to intervene.

"What my brethren said was indeed true! You, Hayama or whateveryouwantocallit, what you are doing is a crime against humanity!"

"That… that is so sad and mean at the same time, both of you…" I don't know why are you sighing Yui.

I have to confess a little. I don't like it when people butt into other's business, especially when we're the ones who volunteered to help Totsuka first. It's a guy thing, really. This Hayama kid is not a bad person, I can see that, in fact, he's a good kid. But there's this thing about his attitude that made me want to pull out my hair in anger... whatever it is, it better not get to me.

"What the fatty said can be ignored." I ignored Zaimokuza's 'HEY!'. "I just don't want you to interfere with our business here." I tried my best to show as little hostility as I could, but I'm sure that's not helping.

Before I could even speak again, something interrupted me. I caught the ball with an opened palm, gripping into it. That was a full and proper serve, capable of reaching seventy seven mph. That was a good serve and it explains the surprise on the bimbo's face when I still managed to caught it.

"Hayato, I'm bored. I wanna play tennis already!"

Well, screw proper behavior.

"It seems that your girl over there does not know manners. Is she mentally challenged? Does she not know that it's rude to interrupt people who are talking?" I intended to make my voice louder, because I wanted the bimbo to hear what I'm saying. All I got was a glare from the bimbo and a nervous look from Hayama.

"Then, how about this: we will play a match of doubles, me and Yumiko and you and a person of your choosing. Winners will get to play in here every recess but the losers will have to accept that. I'll still help Totsuka-san though."

His condition does not make sense, hell suggesting something doesn't make one in the first place. I don't get why he's so persistent, but I'll humor him.

And humor him I will.

"Let's do something better." I started. "Ever heard of Canadian doubles?" I looked at Hayama, only to receive a look of confusion from the shorter guy. "It has nothing to do with Canada, but it's also called cutthroat tennis in some countries. Basically, it's two on one tennis." Now he understands. "Let's play that. You and that bimbo over there against little old me. Rules are simple, the team of two players can only hit the ball within the single player's singles lines, whilst the single player can hit into the full doubles court on the two player's side."

I tried to put more pressure to my next words.

"Or do you want me to put more handicap for you? I'll also only hit the ball within one line, if that's what you want?" at this point, it's safe to say that I'm mocking Hayama.

"Well, your loss."

This son of a bitch…

I only smiled. But inside, I'm holding back a frozen tundra littered with blizzard. "Prepare to be served, Hayama."

* * *

So we made our preparations and news got out that I challenged two of the most powerful students in school for a suicide tennis match. Well, Hayama actually challenged me in the first place but let's roll with that. The court's outside is crowded and students from all grades are watching. Of course, they're cheering for Hayama and the bimbo, but I'm not one for motivation anyway. Standing alone on my side of the court, I inhaled deeply.

Playing this time of tennis match is actually a very huge advantage for me, because there's no one else to slow me down. The space is wider, giving me more room to act especially with the double handicap I'm giving to Hayama. Suicide tennis only allows the pair to hit on the side of the lane I'm standing, but because of the handicap, they're allowed to hit normally. Just imagine the feeling they'll feel when they lost after having been given such handicap…

Heh.

I stretched my arms and legs, doing a light warm up. I ditched the green track suit, preferring the shirt I'm always wearing underneath my uniform and yes, it is orange. I'm still wearing my gym shorts though, because it's easier to move with it. It seems that they're making a big deal of this match, because the number of watchers is growing. Well, you know what they say, the taller they stand, the harder they'll fall.

I'll make this quick. Naturally, first one to serve is me and I'll have to score as much points as I could with my serves.

We're all ready. The bimbo's all dressed up and Hayama looks like he's up for action. Totsuka's acting as the referee and he gives a nod. I returned his nod with one of my own.

Tennis is all about precision and stamina. The strain from running around, trying to return your opponent's hits will take a toll on your legs, especially knees. But I won't have to worry about that, I'm more than prepared for that kind of strain. Really, the only thing I have to worry about is to make my performance believable. I'm already getting a lot of attention from this, and I sure as hell don't want anymore. That means I have to lower down my performance but at the same time, I won't make it easy for those two either.

I threw the ball in the air, ready for the serve.

And I hit it.

 **SWISH**

Everyone in the court blinked, from my fellow club mates to the audience. Their eyes landed on the place where the ball hit and their shock is multiplied. The metal wired bars that cover the court are bent from the impact of the ball. And the ball itself is not looking to good, I mean, it's completely ruined with a large tear. It must've bounced from the court's ground and into it.

So that's where that popping sound came from…

How hard did I hit that ball for it to burst from the impact? I'm no physician so I'll settle with 'really hard' as an answer.

"Uh… is that a score?" I asked Totsuka.

"Y-Y-Yes… fifteen, love."

I pumped my fist. "Yosh, let's go again." I held out my hand, demanding a fresh ball.

For the next few turns, I'm in the lead. It's simple really, in this one round, I've been getting ace. Nor Hayama or that bimbo can stop my serves and it unnecessarily boosts my ego for some reason. Of course, they complained, but as long as I'm not destroying anymore balls, they're fine with it.

But that doesn't mean that they can react to my serves, though.

"Game, Uzumaki."

Woot, I got the first set.

I sat down, didn't bother reaching for my water bottle. I'm not even tired; hell I'm not even sweating. I'm just sitting here for twenty seconds to waste time before I get to return to the court.

"Ne, Maki… are you sure you've never played tennis before?" why are you making that kind of look, Yui?

"You don't need to do tennis in order to learn how to hit hard, Yui." Was all I said before standing up and returning to court.

"One, nil." Totsuka announces the score.

I readied myself with both of my hands gripped around the racket.

Second round and it's the double's turn to serve. I see that the bimbo's doing the serving, this should be easy.

And I was right, it was easy.

The backhand slice was spot on because it bounces off at the end of the court, barely a score. I easily got fifteen points. I hear cheers but I pay them no mind. When I'm like this, my mind's already deep in the game. It's now Hayama's turn to serve. The moment the ball hits the net of the racket, I can see it coming at me in slow motion. Take this from the guy who's used to dodge meteors and fireballs at a blinding speed of 500mph, so when I say that Hayama hits slow, I really mean it.

I returned the serve, but I did so normally. The ball bounced off the ground but miss bimbo is there to hit it back at me. Now since I gave them the double handicap, she's free to hit to the empty space next to me. But even so, I won't let her score so easily. I did a return and the ball bounces off fast. It bounces against the pair's side of the court and into the back, giving me a score.

Wait, let me do this,

"Mada mada da ne?"

Props to you if you know where that's from.

"Fifteen, love."

That only serves as a taunt against the pair and I'm glad I've been reading manga on my spare time.

It's their turn again to serve and I can already see the fatigue taking a toll on them. This is getting incredibly easier for me. Funny thing about tennis is that you don't have to actually score in order to get a point.

In a fit of impatience and rage, the bimbo serves the ball with unnecessary speed and intensity. The ball bounces off at the end of the court, making it an out.

"Thirty, love."

"Are you okay, Yumiko?" Hayama sounds like he's out of breath.

"Yeah… I'm fine…it's just that, he hits fast and strong, almost as if he's a freak!"

"Oi!" I heard that!

It's their turn to serve again and I hit back, hard. Hayama barely hit my return and it bounces off the empty side of my court. My ninja reflex kicks in and I, at least in the eyes of others, 'teleported' in order to hit the ball.

"What was that?! Did you see that?!"

"Yeah! It's like something straight out of a manga!"

"Uwoooh! I know that you are secretly a manga protagonist, Naruto!"

Damn it Zaimokuza!

None of the pair could've predicted that I could hit Hayama's return like, so they did not anticipate anything at all, giving me another point for this set.

Well, so much for 'lowering' my performance.

"Forty, love."

My name's been called for the fourth time now, one more score and I'll win this set.

Things are not looking good for the Hayama-bimbo duo. I can only imagine the shame and tiredness they're feeling. The fact that I don't even look wound up must've served as an insult to them. Regardless, I'm not here to show off, so I'll make this as quickly as I could. Bimbo serves again and I returned. Hayama hits that and I hit back. We're playing a game of pong here, essentially, but with me doing the winning.

I lowered my return speed into something more approachable for the duo, I have to admit, this is getting fun.

"Yumiko!"

"Yeah!"

The bimbo dashes to the side, she throws her body, sliding on the ground in order to hit the ball. It hit her racket, causing the ball to bounce towards the sky. I expected this so I ran forward, and then jumped,

I raised my racket for a smash, and smash I did.

The ball crashes down to Hayama and the bimbo's court so hard, it left a crack on the ground before bouncing off of the tennis court.

"G-Game, Uzumaki…"

And the crowd goes wild. I walked to my side of the bench and grabbed a water bottle. I downed a few millimeters of water before using the rest to cool my body down.

"Kyaaaa~!"

For some reason, some girls are cheering, must be for that Hayama dude.

Either way, I'm all set and ready to go.

But, I was stopped.

"Wait a moment, Uzumaki-kun."

I turned my head. "Yukinoshita? Why are you all dressed up as if you're ready to play some tennis?"

I received a sigh from the ice queen herself. "That's because I'm here to play tennis, you oaf." I can see the displeasure on her face. "Yuigahama-san insisted that I play alongside you, when you're clearly capable of handling two people and yourself combined. Is there any problem with me playing?"

I shrugged and then shook my head. "Nah, as long as you don't slow me down, then I'll be fine." Wow, is this what that jackass Sasuke always feels like when he tells people to not slow him down?

"Hmph, I should be the one saying that to you. Let me serve the first, I have a score to settle with the female over there."

"Heh, now that's more like it."

To the eyes of our audience, we were like two titans conversing on how to devour our foes.

"Oi, oi… Uzumaki alone is already overkill, but Yukinoshita is there too?"

"Yeah… even if Miura has a history on playing tennis, she and Hayama haven't even scored any points ever since the first set!"

"This is awesome… man I wish I brought my phone outside…"

Eh, to the last dude, don't worry; I'm pretty sure that this will end up on Youtube one way or another.

As she requested before, I let Yukinoshita serve first. I do not know what history she has in playing tennis, but something tells me that I'll be surprised.

And yeah, I was surprised.

She delivers a perfect serve, but the bimbo manages to return it. Unfortunately for her, I'm there to back Yukinoshita up. We may not get along together, but we will work together when we have to. Hayama reads my return shot and he delivers one of his own. Yukinoshita barely misses the ball, but she manages to return it on the last second. This 'hit and return' procedure continues for the next five minutes, effectively building suspense. I'm not complaining, I'm kind of excited at this point.

"Yukinoshita!"

She reads my mind. "Yes!" dashing forward, she lobs the ball to the opponent's court.

Hayama returns the lob in an upward shot, returning the ball to the air once again. I ran forward, jumping in the air once more.

"Uzumaki…"

I grinned. And hit.

" **NARUTO SMASH!"**

And yeah, screw that talk about eighth grader syndrome from the previous chapter.

The ball does not just leave another crack on the court, it bounces off the ground, into the air and then falling down right outside the court.

"Fifteen, love."

I grinned. "Yosh."

"Hm, not bad." I received a snarky praise from Yukinoshita, well, a praise is a praise…

Yukinoshita and I scored one more point, but Yukinoshita has the honors since she's the one who scored. The Hayama-bimbo pair is still nil, and there's no way for them to catch up to us. But, damn, I'm impressed. I always thought that Yukinoshita's that type of person who's weak when it comes to sports, but it looks like I was wrong. Her physical prowess is just as good as her ability to make tasteless burns. I thought that Yukinoshita's only a princess, but it seems that she's a war princess.

"Thirty, love."

My turn to serve. "This is it Yukinoshita, two more points and we're done."

"Yeah…" looks like she's tired. "Let's make sure that we win."

"Alright…"

I served.

And an ace.

"Forty, love."

"Well… that was quick…" Yukinoshita frowns at me.

I grinned at her cheekily. "Just goes to show that I can get serious whenever I need to." I grabbed another ball, passing it to her. "Win it Yukinoshita."

She takes the ball. And serves.

* * *

Regret. It means to feel sad, repentant, or disappointed over something that has happened or been done, especially a loss or missed opportunity. It leaves a lingering feeling inside of you. I know regret and I know how it eats you inside. I kept trying to ignore it whenever I've done something bad, but it just didn't work this time.

When Yukinoshita's serve is delivered, the fainted. My body screamed at me to catch her. I did catch her. I carried her to the infirmary, my heart thumping with anxiety and panic. The last time I felt like that was when facing Madara face to face.

How could I have forgotten? Yukinoshita, she's not well enough to play any sports. That's why she didn't join in any training that we held for the last few days. I regret forgetting that and I'm a fool to forget about it.

Needless to say, the tennis match went unfinished. Everyone disbanded the moment I ran Yukinoshita to the infirmary.

Right now, as I'm sitting here on the side of her bed, I can only feel regret eating away at my soul. Yui's not doing any better, in fact, she feels the worse since it was her who insisted that Yukinoshita joined me. I feel worse too. 'as long as you don't slow me down'… I feel like an itchy ass that needs to be scratched.

Thankfully, nothing serious happened and the nurse said that she needed rest. Yui and I agreed to leave Yukinoshita to rest in the infirmary alone. So we leave, and now, we're walking without saying anything. The only sound that accompanies us is Yui's attempt on stopping her crying.

I'd hand her my handkerchief, if it wasn't all sweaty. But something tells me she wouldn't have accepted regardless if it was sweaty or not.

When I saw Yukinoshita fainted, I felt the same anxiousness and panic the first time I felt Madara. I was not even kidding you and I'm not using hyperbole here. I abandoned everything just so that I could catch her and break her fall. Something tapped my heart directly and hard enough to make me forget about my surroundings instead of Yukinoshita.

Now, as I walk and accompanied by a sniffling Yui, I can only wonder why I felt like that.

I don't get along with her well, and the same can be said vice versa. So why? Why was I so… fearful and panic? God, I was like a newbie ninja seeing his comrade about to get killed. Highly unprofessional.

Yui and I walk into our club room and the moment we're inside, Yui crashes into me, wrapping her arms around my sweaty shirt and making it even wetter with her tears. I can only stand there, unblinking as Yui soaks my shirt in her tears. My mind is lost in the feeling that I felt.

Just… what happened back there? It's not like Yukinoshita died…

Someone fainting should not have been enough to trigger my worry and panic like that. I've went through a lot damn it, so why did I act like a rookie when I saw Yukinoshita faint?

I can only wonder.

* * *

"Hello, this is Uzumaki. Tanaka-san, I'm afraid that I'll have to delay the work this week. Please, I… I need time to think. Yes, I'm okay, no, I'm not hurt. I just need to straighten a few things out and then I'll be the same as usual the next day. Please tell the people from editing to not contact me until tomorrow, I need time for myself. Hm, who? Her? Yeah… she can go and play here, she's welcomed anytime. Yes, I'll take good care of her. Yes, yes. Thank you, Tanaka-san."

I turned off my phone, throwing it on my bed. I slumped down my swivel chair with my head drooped low.

Today is a tiring day.

And I'm not even talking about tennis…

* * *

 **Well, that's it for this chapter. I figured that a little drama wouldn't hurt, well except Yukinoshita, anyone. Besides, it's not going to be an interesting story if everything went fine and dandy, now is it? Next chapter will feature your favorite little sister character. So, stay tuned.**

 **1: Expect more of these jokes in this story and yes, I've been watching too much Food Wishes.**

 **2: Look at the story's cover art.**


	4. Case Halfway Closed

I live alone.

Well, that's to be expected. As someone who has been switching identities throughout his long year of living, I have always lived alone. Ah, but there were special cases back then. For example, when I entered elementary in Japan, I have to sneak and forge my ID as an orphan living in an orphanage. It sucks to admit it but I had to use Genjutsu in order to make things believable, even until now, I still have connections with that orphanage and the orphanage mother is still someone I'm close with.

I left the orphanage as soon as I entered junior high. With the help of my clones, I managed to get a lot of money by working multiple odd-jobs. With the money I gathered, I easily rented a cheap apartment near the school I attended during junior high. I could've just done something easier, like, stealing money and all that; but I went for the honest way, seeing as stealing other people's money is pretty dickish, unless they're dicks themselves. And I rented a normal apartment, when I could've bought something like the place I'm living in now.

Not to mention, by the time my books hit the shelves, I've been raking in thousands in revenue, but that's only in Japanese Yen.

Now, I'm living in this mansion styled apartment. The Japanese are pretty unique when it comes to naming. Basically, if an apartment is more than five storied building, requires a resident's permission to enter and the rent is above a million yen, then it's a mansion apartment. But really, the studio apartment I used to have in the U.S was way better. The place is peaceful, of course, since there's basically no one else in the building other than the residents that live here. I usually write in my room, obviously, but there are times when I feel like doing some outdoor writing.

All in all, this place is home to me and—

"Onii-chan, where's the bread?"

…apparently, someone else is in my home with me.

I'm not alarmed, just… disappointed, kind of. I walked out of the bathroom, having finished my business there and went to the kitchen which also serves as a dining room.

Seated on one of the two chairs is a young, junior high school girl with short greenish black hair and large round eyes. She's wearing her uniform, which is none other than a sailor uniform that Japan is famous for having. Aside from the hair clips used to prevent her bangs from obscuring her vision, Komachi is just your everyday girl.

"Komachi… you let yourself in today…"

She looks up to me and grinned. "Teehee~!"

I resisted the urge to facepalm. "So, why the sudden visit?" not that I mind, but I would really appreciate it if she stops abusing the extra key that I gave to her.

"Why, can't I visit my not-related-but-still-lovable Onii-chan?" the way she's fluttering her eyelash while saying that in a cutesy voice send chills down my spine.

I won't deny that she's cute, but it's just as far as any other big brother would say about their little sisters. "I'm not saying you can but how did you let yourself in? You need my permission in order to get inside this building."

She does stop doing what it is she's currently doing, which is placing plates on my table. "Oh, you didn't know? Mom gave me the key-card for the gate downstairs, now I can visit you whenever I want, Onii-chan!"

I figured… since Tanaka-san's my editor, she has the key-card for the gate downstairs. I should've figured that woman would do something like this… again, not that I mind, I did say that Komachi's welcomed anytime.

"Well, whatever." I shrugged. "Go sit down, I'll go cook breakfast for us."

"Yatta!"

Hikigaya Komachi is the daughter of Tanaka-san, my editor. I've known her for quite a while now and it's safe to say that we're close, judging by what she's been calling me. I was introduced to Komachi when Tanaka-san and I were out at a restaurant to discuss about my book. Komachi came in, accusing her mother that she's cheating on her husband with me.

Naturally, I was like, what the fuck?

Apparently, Komachi had been having bad vibes about her mother not returning home as often as she used to. And she said that she overheard her mother talking to me on the phone and it totally sounded suspicious, to her at least. So, she decided to stalk her mother one day and…

That's how I met her.

"Are you fine with bacon and eggs?"

"Ah! I want some toasts too!"

"Mmkay."

This is not the first time Komachi… has _excused_ herself into my home. This is the seventieth time, yes, I've kept count. Tanaka-san is a busy person, the editorial department has been working her hard before I even debuted as an author and I know nothing about her husband. Komachi is almost home alone for most of the time but ever since I entered her life, she's been crashing here whenever she'd please.

I should've never given her the key, damn it.

Anyhow, it's too late to change that and there's nothing stopping her from not giving me the key that I gave to her. So… yeah.

"Ne, ne, Onii-chan, will you come over for dinner today?" as I was busy frying some bacon stripes on the pan, I can only hear Komachi's words over the sound of bacon sizzling on the hot pan.

"Hm? And who's cooking?" I know that Tanaka-san's going to be busy and I know for sure that Komachi can't cook proper meals other than curry and nikujaga.

"You, duh!"

"Then it's more logical to eat here instead." I deadpanned.

"But I want to eat at home with you again, Onii-chan~" she whines. "Eating here lacks that… homey feeling, you know?"

"I don't. I don't get that 'homey' feeling because this **is** my house." I cracked two eggs and cooked them along the bacon.

"Muu… Onii-chan you're so tactless…" now she's pouting.

Seriously, I don't get why boys my age fawn over littler sisters. If they actually have real life little sisters, they would not fawn over them like their fictional ones because reality is cruel. It's weird hearing that from me though, since Komachi is not my little sister by blood. Our relationship is so close that she's calling me her big brother and I guess I do see her as a little sister sometimes. But really, if begging for pudding, eating from your ramen stash and disturbing you from work is considered 'cute', I'm not sure what's going on with the world.

"Ah, Onii-chan, I want my toast buttered up!"

"Yes, yes."

Oh and she's mooching off me too.

That's the reality of little sisters, related or not.

After finishing my cooking, I set down the food on the table. I have a plate for me and a plate for Komachi. Without even waiting for me, Komachi digs into her toast happily, munching on it with a smile on her face. While it's pretty nice to see her happy like that, I'm not sure if she should really be here in the morning.

We don't normally go to school together because we live in different places, despite them being close to our schools, but there were times in the past when I walked with Komachi to school. Looks like today will be one of those days again.

I eat in relative silence, making chewing noise lightly. I try not to drink milk for breakfast because it'll give me an upset stomach when consumed in the morning. Finishing my food, it's already about the time we leave for school.

"Oi, c'mon, we're gonna be late."

"Alright, wait a moment!" she carries the dishes to the sink, while I unlock the door with my keys.

The both of us walked out the halls together, chatting and then down the elevator to the apartment's main lobby. With a swipe of my key-card, I unlocked the front gate of the apartment and exited the residence. As soon as we stepped out, Komachi does not hesitate to latch onto my arm, wrapping it around hers, while using her other hand to point onwards.

"Let's go!"

I sigh. This is starting to become normal to me, and that worries me.

"Don't get hit by a vehicle again, okay?" she murmurs to me, pouting.

I gave her a puzzled look. "Which one? A truck, or a car?"

"Any vehicle!"

In Japan, I've been into two road accidents.

The first one was from a truck and the second one was from a car.

The truck was due to my own clumsiness, because my dumb self was obviously not paying attention and ninja reflex be damned. The second one was much more… meaningful.

On the day I was supposed to start high school… I got into an accident with a car.

I remember walking to school feeling rather excited, because about that time, I had just reached about a million sales in Japan. So imagine me chirpily walking down the pavement. In my excitement induced state, I left home an hour earlier than what I should have.

There was this… dog, a sausage dog. You know, the one with the long body and the small stubby legs, yeah, those. It must've run off from its owner's grip and to the main road because of a butterfly. Out of nowhere, there's this black sedan, a fancy car judging from what I could remember. You know what happens from here onwards. I jumped in to save the dog and got hit instead. I was quickly run to the hospital.

I don't know, when I think about it, there are just times when my body couldn't do what I want it to do. Sometimes, I can't do things that I used to do anymore. Like the accident. I could've easily saved the dog and not get hit, but I got hit anyway. Why? I have my theories about it, but that's a story for another time. Aside from the obvious fact that there were a few eyes watching me, disabling me from using any teleportation technique, I still could have acted quickly.

But I couldn't and didn't.

During my stay in the hospital, I have no contact with any other human beings except for Komachi and her mother. I missed my first couple few days in the first year, but I have more time to write my books. It's a win-win, kind of.

It's not exactly what I would call a pleasant memory.

"By the way… after that accident, the puppy's owner came to thank you."

"Huh?" what?

"She brought you snacks too, they were tasty too. Hehehe…"

"I'm pretty sure no one gave me any snacks."

"Hehehe, I ate them all. Teehee~!" she did the 'teehee' again!

I should be mad, but I'm not.

"But, you know, the owner went to your school so maybe you've met her?"

Hm? "Hm? The owner goes to my school? Why didn't you ever tell me this?"

Seriously, why? I'm not kidding, I'm seriously confused.

"Hehe, I forgot~!"

Of course.

We've reached Komachi's school, the middle school near to my own. I saw her running towards the school, shouting, "Bye, Onii-chan~!"

Then, she stops. She turns, running back towards me, crying.

"Onii-chan! My bag~!"

I sighed. Fiction and fact are two different thing, there's no changing that. Little sisters in reality are not like the little sisters you'd see in anime and read in manga. No. They're annoying, nosy, and sometimes downright unbearable.

But, no matter how annoying, nosy and downright unbearable they might be, they are still little sisters.

Komachi may not be related to me my blood, but to her, I've done enough things for her to call me as her brother. I don't know if I should be taking that with pride or not, but I don't dislike it. Komachi is a nice girl after all.

And, sometimes, you hear that, _sometimes_ , cute.

* * *

Normally, a human's life is divided into five stages.

The first one is when they're still a baby. They begin to learn how to walk and talk. This is the earliest stages of a human's life, and said human will not have to do anything since they have someone to cater for them.

The second one is the childhood stage. They are beginning to experience what it feels like to actually do something that does not involve eating pre-mashed food, sweet baby biscuits and formula milk. With school being something they have to get used to, finding friends is a must at this early stage.

The third one is the teenage stage. Puberty, ridiculous amount of homework, love and heartbreaks. This is the scene before the climax and one that I have to go through again now. During this stage, memories and events seem to be unforgettable as they have an important impact to shape who and how we'll be in the future.

The fourth one is the adult stage. Work, lifestyle, relationships and responsibility. This is the climax of a human's life. At this point, imagine everything that a human has been through in the third stage and multiply that by a hundred. Sorry for the hyperbole there, but just try to imagine that. Since they're adults now, they must work to bring food on the table. This effort is doubled if the human has a family. Relationships are getting harder to keep because of the minimal time they can spare and the responsibilities are too damn much. At this point, your life is not your own anymore. A human may have a family and they will shed blood and tears in order to make it stay that way.

And the final stage is… the waiting stage.

You've done everything you could in your life. You sit on that rocking chair, on your porch, smiling as you wave your hands to greet people that pass by your one storied and white fenced house. Your children have a family of their own, and you and your spouse find joy in spoiling your grandkids. Never mind the regrets, because you know that they won't matter in the end. And when your time is up, you lie there on your hospital bed, giving your children and grandchildren one last smile before closing your eyes, drifting away from the world of the living.

Those are the five stages of a human's life.

Unfortunately for me, I will never be able to experience that fifth stage. I can't even do half the things that's in the fourth stage, much less reaching the fifth stage. I'm stuck from one to three, no four, no five.

It… sounds sad, but I don't try to see it as something sad. It's unfortunate, yes, but what can I do?

"Hm… hm…"

Currently, Hiratsuka-sensei is observing my career and workplace visit survey. Basically, it's a form that all high school students have to fill at a point in their school year for their future career consultation. I say consultation because the teacher in charge of that student will consult their career choice and base it from their school performance.

Ignoring how flawed that kind of system is, this is Japan after all, the economy is stable.

But really, it's basically like a written version of a 'I want to be' that students did in elementary. Only this time, it sucks donkey balls because you're actually concerned of what you want to be. Heh.

Thankfully, though, I'm already a working person with a very stable income. And it will continue that way until I finish all of my books.

"You…"

Hm, what is it Hiratsuka-sensei?

"You really take us underpaid workers lightly, don't you?" for some reason, she's glaring at me.

I blinked. "What do you mean? I wrote the form, didn't I?"

She sighed at hearing my answer, whilst placing the form back on the table. "True, there's nothing wrong here… it's just that…" her face turns serious once more and she's now staring at me in the eye. "Be honest, how much are you making with those books of yours?"

"Whoa, that's private information there…"

"Just an estimate."

Well, if she wants to know…

I whispered into her ears.

And when I'm done, she tears my form into shreds.

"HEY!"

"GAAAAH! A KID YOUNGER THAN ME IS MAKING THAT MUCH MONEY ALL BY HIMSELF?! BY WRITING PORN NONETHELESS!"

"It's not porn! It's fine erotica!" I snapped. We both calmed down at the time, sighing simultaneously.

Hiratsuka-sensei massages her forehead. "…You are going to have a hard time in college, Uzumaki. A really, really, hard time."

I snorted. "That is if I plan on getting into a college in the first place."

She raises an eyebrow at my answer. "You don't?"

I blinked owlishly at her. "With that kind of money and reputation, do you really think that I need to waste four years in a place that will only keep me from making more money?" I saw her realization. "Don't get me wrong, Hiratsuka-sensei, education is nice and it definitely has its uses. But if I want to go to a college, it won't be for majors like engineering, architect, chemical sciences or even business so on and so forth. My career, writing books, is pretty much decided and I plan on making it last for a long time."

"If you won't go to college for those majors, then what will you take?"

"Maybe literature." That's obvious as it is. "Or even sports, I don't know. I'm not much of an artist, as my artistic sense lies within literature in the first place, so I have very little interest in art." I said. "But, again, I'm not making college a priority. Right now, at the pace I'm going on, finishing my fifth book is my ultimate priority because aside from not getting paid and getting mobbed by millions of fans for delaying a book… I don't want my editor interfering with my life as much as what she's already done."

Speaking of delayed release, I'm looking at you Shingeki no Kyojin…

"Well, the purpose of this consultation is to make sure that you have a clue on what to do after high school anyway, so, I have nothing more to say." She lights a cigar, placing it in her mouth. "But for formality's sake, I'll have you visit the to do the survey anyway." Taking a long drag, she then speaks again. "Oh, forget to tell you. But you'll need to be in a group of three, so start thinking on whom to bring."

Well that's the hard part right there.

"And… about Yukinoshita…"

I flinched.

"Don't worry about her, but please, take care of her too."

I couldn't answer to that.

* * *

Entering the club room, I prepare myself for an awkward atmosphere. And I was right for preparing myself, because there's no one else other than Yukinoshita inside the room. She's dressed in the school's cardigan uniform, it's getting hot today, so people ditched their blazer for something lighter. I tried my best to not look at her direct, instead putting my bag on a chair. But so much for keeping to myself when Yukinoshita's the first one to engage me.

"I'm surprised she didn't find you." since she starts, I have no choice but to respond.

"Hm? Who?"

Timing can be an interesting thing. Because the moment I asked, the door slides open, revealing an indignant Yui.

"Ah, there you are!"

What's your problem now…?

She walks up to me. "What?"

"You're taking your sweet time going to the club room, so Yuigahama-san had to look for you." Yukinoshita answers and she emphasizes Yui's name.

My eyes twitched. "You don't need to stress that you didn't, I know it without even thinking about it."

Beside me, Yui sulks. "I even went around asking whether or not people have seen you." she crosses her arms above her bust. "And everyone just ran away from me for some reason when I said your name! You didn't do anything to them right, Maki?"

"Maybe I did, maybe I didn't." my answer annoys her even more, good.

"Well, not like it really matters anyway, knowing your reputation."

"Oi!" damn you Yui, I swear Yukinoshita's antics are rubbing off on you…

"But, um…" now she's bashful!? "Give me your number!" she suddenly demands. Her demand is so unexpected, I did not see it coming. "L-Like, it's totes weird to run around asking people about your whereabouts when they'll just flee as if I was looking for a wild animal, s-so, having your phone number will make things even more convenient for me! I-I mean, us!"

While I agree about that first part, I can't say that Yukinoshita's too interested in having my phone number. Not that I want her to have one in the first place… imagine all the insults she'd sent my way every night, I shuddered thinking about it.

"A-And getting asked what kind of relationship we have is embarrassing, so…"

I sighed. "Fine by me."

Taking out my phone, I handed it to Yui, who brightens up considerably the moment she receives my phone.

"You want me to enter it?"

"Hm."

"And I'm kinda surprised that you'd just lend your phone off to someone just like that."

I closed my eyes, leaned back on my chair and wandered off as Yui inputs my number into her phone and her number into my phone. It's not like I have anything to hide in that phone anyway, well, aside from several embarrassing cooking disasters. Opening my eyes, I'm mildly amused at what I'm seeing.

"Heeh, you're quite good with buttons."

"I'm normal. But isn't it Maki who's slow since you don't have anyone to text?"

…did she just… roast me?

I guess she did… I guess she did…

Great, Yui roasted me, who's next, Zaimokuza?

She returns my phone to me. "For your information, Yui, I have had the experience of exchanging text messages with a gir-OI THAT'S MY PHONE YOU JUST DROPPED!"

No! My Samsung!

"W-W-W-W-What?!" why are you so surprised?! "Maki exchanged texts with a girl before?!"

Again, why are you surprised?! Do I look like some overly attached douchebag that'll text any girl he has in his contact list non stop?! I find that offensive!

Picking up my phone from the floor, thank god I have protective casing, I observed the screen.

Uwah… this is going to be awkward if Komachi sees this…

I mean, who writes their contact name with hearts and all sorts of cringe worthy emojis anyway?! What is she, twelve?

By the way, the look of pure shock Yui has on her face is starting to irritate me. So I decided to tell her about my experience in texting a girl.

* * *

 **FLASHBACK**

* * *

 _Japanese junior high school is pretty tight when it comes to friendship. Well, I can see why. They're young and all that, so it's natural that they'd want to make contact with their friends even when they separate to enter high school. During junior high, I was the school's baseball pitcher. I'm not the ace, since I don't want unnecessary attention, but that doesn't people from flooding me with their request of wanting my phone number._

 _One day during the start of my third year in junior high, everyone flocked me. I didn't pay much attention to them at first, since I know that they'll only ask for my number. But I gave them anyway._

 _And I regret doing that._

 _Every night, ever since then, people have been texting me non-stop. I swear, some of them even invited to join their LINE group. Naturally, I'd feel bad about not replying to them, but do I want to waste every valuable minute typing and replying ever single people?_

 _No. No I do not._

 _So, I ignored their texts and even some calls._

 _This backfired because after a week, I was seen as a stuck up asshole who's too selfish for his own good. People no longer wanted to talk to me and those who would smile warmly at me gave me glares and look of resentment. At that point, I'm reminded of just how inconsistent human beings could be._

 _But you know what? That's fine, I don't feel anything for that._

 _To spite them, though, I joined the public LINE group that they invited me earlier and left one message in the form of a poem._

' _roses r red  
dey smell liek butts  
y don u go  
n suk on deez nuts!'_

 _HAH! Got'em!_

 _Needless to say, I have no more friends for the rest of the year._

* * *

 **FLASHBACK END**

* * *

"…and that's how it went!" I finished with a proud look.

In return, all I got is two pitiful stares coming from the two girls in the room with me. For some reason, Yukinoshita walks over to me and places her hand gently on my shoulder.

"Uzumaki-kun, I think I know why you're the way you are now…"

"Why, is it because I'm awesome?"

For some reason, the pitiful stares I'm receiving increases in intensity.

"Uwaah… Maki is no good… he's bad…. He's bad…"

Oi, don't speak as if God and Buddha himself has given up on me!

"But still, Uzumaki-kun, I'd rather if you never text anyone ever again because I have a feeling that they won't hesitate to report it to the police."

"Oi, what do you think I am, a ransom collector? I don't text people threatening stuffs, well, unless they're dicks to me, but eighty percent of the text messages I've written were purely for work purposes!" when I couldn't call Tanaka-san, I text her.

"Oh? And the twenty percent?"

U-Ugh… I hesitated, knowing that I couldn't tell Yukinoshita that the remaining twenty percent is from texting Komachi. What should I tell her? I couldn't just tell her that I texted my sister! Komachi's not my legitimate sister, hell I'm sure that both Yui and Yukinoshita will find it creepy if they found out that there's a junior high school girl calling me Onii-chan.

"Hmph." I crossed my arms. "Trade secrets."

"Hm…" I get the feeling that Yukinoshita herself does not text much in the first place, explaining why I was able to retort to her. "Fair enough."

After my conversation with Yukinoshita ended, I noticed that Yui's making a slightly perturbed expression. "What's wrong?"

"Eh, ah, it's nothing." She quickly pockets her phone, preventing me from seeing. "It's just a spam mail, something like that."

Spam mail, huh…

Nah, unfortunately for you Yui, I'm not buying it.

"Eh, to think that you'd send one of your repulsive text content so soon. What a degenerate, Uzumaki-kun."

"Oi, that's obviously not me here." Seriously, to think that I was sincerely concerned about her yesterday…

"But that story you just told could be as evidence against you." Yukinoshita says sharply.

"Hm, and which part is it? Technically, what I sent was a group message, not an individual text message and it wasn't spam, it was just me saying 'fuck you' to thirty people or so in a much more artistic and memetastic way."

She couldn't argue with me there.

"But even so, Yuigahama-san is still shocked of what you just sent."

"Eh… we're still going on with this?" seriously, girl, stop it. Don't make me mad. "What proof do you have that it's me, huh?"

"That's something that the perpetrator would normally say in crime movies."

"Well, tough luck for you, the only crime movie series I watch are the American ones and I don't know how they do it here in Japan but our friends from across the pond won't allow such petty and obvious mistake happen in their TV series." I countered back, still with my arms crossed.

"M-Maa, maa!" seeing that the intensity has risen, Yui interferes. "It couldn't have been Maki, Yukinon, since it involves people from my class!"

Oi, I'm also from your class aren't I?!

"Oh, is that so? Then it couldn't have been Uzumaki-kun, right?"

…this bitch…

To rattle our conversation and throwing it off its course, the door to our club room slides open, revealing a rather attractive looking boy.

"Excuse me, is this the Service Club?"

Ohoho? If it isn't Hayate… right? His name is Hayate, right? Well, whatever.

"Yes, this is indeed the service club's room." As our unquestionable leader and the very first member of this club, Yukinoshita answers his question.

Hayate walks in, closing the door behind him. He gives me a look and I don't know why.

"What are you here for?" I asked, since I'm not really keen on letting another male taking my place in this room.

It'll make me feel insecure.

"I've come here to make a request, actually." He gives us a smile that would make normal girls' heart melt. But luckily, I'm not a girl, nor am I normal. Thankfully, Yukinoshita's an uptight bitch and Yui's too dumb to be affected by it. "Hiratsuka-sensei told me that I should come here if I have any troubles."

That teacher basically made us do her job for her!

"It's hard getting excused from the club so—"

"We're not here to hear you brag about how successful you are in your cult of ball loving boy scouts." Oh, nice one, Yukinoshita. "You have a request, let us hear it, Hayama Hayato-kun."

Oh, so his name's Hayama, huh…

"Well, about that…" he places his bag down and hands his phone to Yui. Instantly, the same frown that I saw on Yui's face from a while ago returns.

"Uwah, it's that mail again."

Curious, Yukinoshita extracts the needed information from the mail.

"Tobe is a delinquent who beats up students from West High in the arcades. Yamato is a three timer, scum of the earth. Oka smashes other school's star players with his unsportsmanlike tactics." Yukinoshita hums. "So it's a related chain mail, huh?"

"Ever since these rumors sprung up, the air in the class has been uncomfortable." Hayama says. "And hearing baseless rumors about my friends just doesn't sit right with me."

Duh, captain obvious. Well, at least he's honest about these things.

"Ah, but, I don't necessarily want to find out who's behind all of this though. I just want to know how to make it stop." He says his desire.

Hm, I get it about wanting to make it stop… but if it hurts your friends' reputation like that, you're not interested in finding the douche responsible for sullying their names like that?

Maybe Hayama just doesn't want to make our jobs considerably harder than what it already is, really, stopping baseless slander about someone is hard as it is already what more finding the one who did it? But if it was me, I won't hesitate going a step or even two steps further. But that's just me.

Speaking of rumors, I'm not a stranger to this kind of social attack. People have tried to attack my reputation, both as an individual and as an author. I've had rival authors posting anonymous threads and articles about me using real sex as material for my writing, as in I hire prostitutes to do that. Well, if they're saying that I'm using my sexual experience as material for the books, then they're not wrong but it's all just baseless rumors.

I've also had people sending me threatening letters and even death threats. Of course, they couldn't do anything despite the threats since I have nothing left exposed. My house has a tight security. The only real outside-the-school connection I have is with Komachi, and even so, it's unknown to the public and I doubt that they dare to pull something like a real hit on me like it's a Quentin Tarantino movie, which is isn't.

On a completely related note, if my life was a rendition of Quentin Tarantino's movies, it'd be more bloody and racist.

The thing is, despite my publicity as the author of Icha Icha, the media knows nothing about me. They may post baseless slander about me in the internet, but people will only ignore it as that, baseless slander. And also, their profile and article wouldn't last a day in the internet because some of my loyal readers will take up arms and return the favor double.

Yes, such is the advantages of being a good writer.

As a member of the service club however, I'm just as unrelated as Yukinoshita or Yui is to Hayama's dilemma. But it is my job to help him since it's a request.

"Aside from the uneasiness between your classmates, has anything else happened? Hayama-kun, Yuigahama-san?" Yukinoshita asks the two who're well versed in the topic.

"Well… not really, I don't think anything happened." Hayama says, unsure. "But it's just annoying you know?"

"It is, believe me."

We see Yukinoshita leaving her chair, standing up and facing the window.

"To hurt someone in such an incognito manner is the lowest form of slander that anyone could ever do. In this day and age, reputation is akin to a person's body itself. It may not hurt physically, but when you have five, ten or twenty or so people talking negatively about you from the things that you didn't do, the pain might just as well be physical."

Oh, that's cool. Don't mind if I do write that down…

"But since nothing happened aside from the trust issue that's currently lingering in your classroom, then we're still not late." Yukinoshita says. "Hayama-kun, I have two choices for you."

Hayama listens in attention.

"The first one is straightforward and unquestionably the most effective way to stop this rumor from spreading even further. Basically, it involves finding the no-good-doer himself. We'll use whatever assets we have at our disposal and make him answer for his crimes."

"B-But it's not like what that person's doing is illegal, right? I-I mean, at the end of the day, it's just baseless slander, right?"

I spoke up. "That's actually possible, Hayama." They all turn to me. "What this guy did was in fact two things." Just in case he couldn't tell, raised two fingers. "One is individual slandering, obviously. While it depends on how big and serious the slander is, slander still violates some laws that Japan has, regardless of it being enforced or not. It's written underneath the… information and technological responsibility article if I'm not mistaken. The second one is defamation of the school. Since we are still students here, the school is somewhat responsible for our behavior regardless of whether the accusations happened within the school or not. Whatever damages that Tobe, Yamato and Oka took, the school will receive triple the amount. Since this is a school, a place where reputation is held in a very high prestige, the chairman will not take the damage and let it slide as some sort of rumor, especially if the situation can develop much worse."

I noticed the blank looks on their faces.

"What I'm saying is this, if you don't do something about this now, it'll escalate into something beyond the service club's control. We might have teachers, the principals, the chairman and maybe even the police involved if we leave things as it is." I said. "And at that point… imagine what will your three friends feel like doing when their reputation is already considered as something as low as dirt."

Suicide, that's the unspoken answer.

But Hayama is a smart guy, he figures it out. He's too afraid to answer, knowing that it might just be true.

To relieve tension, I spoke again. "Of course, it might not be that case specifically, but I'm just showing you the branches here."

I've spoken a lot in this scene, whew.

"What Uzumaki-kun said is true." Yukinoshita agrees with me. "If this escalates, then the problem will be the school's problem as well. And as a student, I do not want to be known as someone who graduates from a school that breeds problem students. What Uzumaki has said is the first choice, here is the second choice: we wait."

"Huh?" all three of us mutter at the same time.

"Rumors are rumors and will only be rumors, if it's nothing serious." Yukinoshita crosses her arms. "If we're going to act and treat it as a normal fad in the first place, then there's nothing else to do but to wait it out. Unless…"

Ah, so that's what's happening…

"Tell me, Hayama-kun, what has been the most conversed topic in this school for the past week?"

The past week… it's… the… "Workplace visit?"

Yui reacts to my assumption. At this point, everyone knows the root of the problem.

"Ah… so it's about that. We have to pick groups, so…" Yui trails off, connecting the dots for our thoughts.

Well, Watson, it seems that we're on a lead here.

* * *

" _I think I know who the culprit is!"_

 _The three of us stare at Yui with our undivided attention._

" _You know, this whole picking a group thing, doesn't it actually make you do the opposite thing? Instead of making us one, it makes things uneasy between friends." Yui tries to explain in her own understanding._

" _Hm. Since the survey requires a group of three, it would only be natural for the fourth guy to get excluded and feel left out, huh? So in order to change that, they decided to write atrocious things about each other, hoping that Hayama will ditch them." I said. "That's the most solid conclusion we could come up with at the moment."_

" _W-Wait a minute!" Hayama tries to stop us from coming up with conclusions. "Those three are good friends, they couldn't have been the one to write about those articles! About each other, nonetheless!"_

 _Yukinoshita is in deep thoughts, and when it's time for her to speak, she does so in the form of a question._

" _Can you tell us a little about your friends, Hayama-kun? Those three." She says while pulling out a notepad._

 _Does this girl seriously carry around a notepad? I mean, I'm an author, but even I don't carry around notepads during school._

" _Well… Tobe may look like a bad guy from the way he styles himself, but he's actually a good guy. He's proactive and chirpy, he's the most talkative one in the group and he's a natural speaker."_

" _So he's loud, unable to show any restrain and completely shallow, huh?"_

 _Eh… I'm not sure if you're paying attention to what Hayama was saying, Yukinoshita-san…_

" _What's wrong, please go on."_

" _Yamato is a good listener. He's very considerate of people, making him a rather chill guy to hang out with. And the way he tolerates almost everything about a person makes you feel comfortable when with him."_

" _He's slow to respond and indecisive."_

" _O-Oka is a natural people person! He gets along with almost everyone he met and I always see him helping people! He's a great gu—"_

" _A crafty opportunist who manipulates other while waiting for the perfect moment to strike, two faced too."_

 _Uwah… I can't really tell whether she's kidding about those or not but I have a feeling she wasn't._

" _Any of them could be the culprit, your description wasn't really helpful, Hayama-kun." It's you who's not helpful here! "What do you two think about them?"_

 _Yukinoshita finally involve us into the fray._

" _E-Eh? I don't know that much about them, ehehe…"_

 _I looked away. "I don't even know them." no surprise there._

" _Then could you investigate them for me?" now you're just asking us to do the hard part, Yukinoshita._

" _S-Sure…" it seems like Yui's not so keen on making unnecessary contact, knowing how awkward it could be._

 _I saw Yukinoshita sigh. "I'm sorry that it isn't as glamorous and exciting as a detective novel, you won't get to say things like, 'there can only be one truth!' or things like that."_ _ **(1)**_

 _But it sure as hell would be fun to see._

 _You know what, I'll make her eat her words._

" _I'll do it."_

 _I narrowed my eyes._

" _Oi, why are you looking at me with such surprise in your eyes, even I can be proactive too." I'm not sulking, just upset. "I don't care what others have to say about me, so there would be no backlash if you have me playing hound dog around the school."_

" _Well if you insist."_

" _M-Me too Yukinon!" well aren't you enthusiastic now, Yui. "I can't let Maki do all the work by himself and besides, you asked me first, didn't you?"_

 _Aw, it's cute. It seems that Yukinoshita cannot handle when Yui is straightforward with her._

" _It seems like you're all getting along just fine."_

" _Hm, seems that way."_

So because that happened, we're now conducting the investigation. If you ask me, there's so much holes in the plans that as a former shinobi, I did everything I could to not faint. But I wasn't much of a planner either, so, it's just safe to Leroy Jenkins it hope for the best.

We're going along with Yui's tactics first. It's pretty self explanatory. In fact, here is the girl herself, about to explain what she's about to do.

"So, how will you do this?" I asked, not lifting chin from my desk's surface.

"I'll go and ask the girls about them." Yui says. "Girls can't calm down when it comes to talking and if they know something bad about a person, then they won't stop talking about it."

Uwaah, girl talks are scary!

"You girls and your talks…" I sighed. "Anyway, best of luck to you."

"Mhhmm!"

I kind of get how this will go on, first, she'll approach those two girls that I've seen her often talk with. If I'm not mistaken, one of them is someone I've met before, and after that she'll ask them about those three musketeers we're oh so curious as to what their relation to one another is.

I'll skip the needless information but this is how it goes:

Yui starts out with a nonchalant question, bringing up the three stooges up.

The tennis tramp that I literally served yesterday tells Yui that she shouldn't be talking about her friends like that.

Yui denies having any sort of ill intentions or whatsoever, reasoning that she's just curious about their relationship. This can be taken in many directions.

Unfortunately, glasses girl – tennis tramp's close friend – is a wrestling finishing move **(2)** because she came into the conversation right out of nowhere.

Glasses girl likes to read slash fic, or everything that involves slash pairings really and she's beginning to get a little creepy.

Tennis tramp stopped her yaoi yapping yaeger-bomb of a friend telling her that she is being a total freak.

Ah, language devices, how I love thee.

Props if you can guess which one it is. Clue, it starts with the letter 'A'.

So, Yui backs off, not knowing what to say anymore because she's afraid that it might just blow her cover.

And now…

Here we are, standing near the lockers, mulling over Yui's unsuccessful operation.

"I'm sorry… I couldn't do anything."

Now don't look so downcast, Yui, I mean, it's not like we know that you'll fail. "It's not like we know that you'll fail."

"You're mean Maki!"

Yukinoshita sighs. "Then, Uzumaki-kun, you have the stage. But tell me, how are you going to do it?"

My smile answers her question.

Observation.

* * *

Really, the thing that they drilled into our minds as an academy student – aside from memorizing all the important historical stuffs – is the correct way to observe things. I kid you not, Iruka-sensei would make all of us students stand outside in the field doing nothing but… looking! There is a purpose for this, of course, but it's something that could not be used instantly. The key to mastering the art of observation is to, well, observe.

It's the kind of skill that you develop in your everyday life as a ninja, so by the time you know it, you're already more observant than you think. Observation is a key concept of becoming a ninja. Even hardened and god-like people like Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara first started out observing ripples on a pond before they even have the chance to lift up a blade, and this coming from someone who's been fighting ever since the age of five, it means a lot.

Which is why fights between shinobi tend to be… quick, back then. The one who's most observant wins. With keen observation and a quick mind, a ninja will be able to execute his attack before his opponent reacts to the attack. There's a saying from the samurais of my time and it goes : 'be sharp not only of the blade, but also of the mind.' Basically, it tells you not to be all brawns but also brains at the same time.

And boy did it work.

Right now, what I'm doing is similar to observation, but instead of seeing, I'm listening. Hearing and listening are two different things. When you hear, you hear a sound. That's it. But listening requires your brain to analyze and pay attention to every detail that you hear coming from around you. It's not just the mere act of taking in a sound, voice or noise and then letting the brain register it as a fleeting thing. But it's the act of understanding through hearing.

I plugged in a pair of muted earphones to make it look like I'm sleeping whilst listening to songs. This way, I'm set.

This way, nothing can disturb my concentration, not even something… cute…

"Ah, Uzumaki-kun, hello!"

Totsuka. Totsuka.

"…will you make ramen for the rest of your life?"

"Hm, what was that?"

I shook my head. "Nothing, I just woke up so I must've blabbered, ehehe."

Dammit! Totsuka being here is like throwing a wrench to my already working wrench, nothing will happen but it still bothers me! Why now, God? I know you know what turns me on, but there's a time and place for everything! **(3)**

"Yo Totsuka, wassup?"

"Nothing, I'm just wondering if…" he's fidgeting here, his cute self is fidgeting. "If you have decided on who to go to the survey with?"

"Me? Hm… not at the moment." I answered honestly. "What about you?"

"W-Well… I more or less know who I'll be going with." He's blushing for some reason. As I thought, wearing that tracksuit inside is no good after all.

Whilst I'm having a convo here, Hayama's groupie's having a nice chat of their own. I can hear their voices all the way from here and it got my attention. The three stooges whom we all assume to have problems against each other are actually having a pretty friendly conversation, they're even on first name basis!

Curious, I spoke,

"Saika."

"E-Eh?"

"Mhm? Ah, was it wrong for me to say that?" believe it or not, but saying a person's first name in Japan means that you're close. It's something quite prudish.

"No, no, no! I was just surprised." He says honestly. But then, he smiles. "But I'm happy that you actually called me by my first name, Uzumaki-kun."

Uwaah… are you sure you're not a girl?

"S-So… is it alright if I call you Maki, too?"

"No, no please don't."

"Then, Naruto?"

"…can you say that like, three more times?"

"Naruto? Naruto. Naruto!"

I was so lost I didn't notice that Totsuka is actually mad at me. "A-Ah sorry, I was not myself there."

"Muuu… even though I called you three times…"

I was about to continue my conversation with Totsuka, but Third Wheel award of the year goes to Hayama Hayato-kun for his more than appropriate timing to butt into a person's conversation!

"What do you want?" I was glaring.

"No, I just want to ask what have you got so far." He asks me.

This guy… doesn't he realize that these things take progress?

"Look, here, Hayama, you can't just demand results just like that." I rest my shoulder on my chair's back rest, and I rested my chin on the palm of my rested hand. _Restception_. "You lack tac—"

Wait, what's this?

Hayato's three friends, the musketeers, they're… not talking to each other. From my point of view, it's easy to mistake them as strangers who just happen to stand at a very close proximity within one another. And the way they're holding their phone… ohohohoho… it's starting to make sense now.

I can see ending!

* * *

"I can see the ending!"

I shouted to the other three people in the club room with me.

Yukinoshita gives me a very unamused look. "Oh really? Care to rest the case, detective?"

I smirked. But first, let's address the 'victim' first. "First of all, Hayama, do you consider yourself an observant person?"

Of course, the person in question can only answer with a "Huh? What do you mean?"

I pulled out some sheets of papers and begin to tap my knuckles on them like a certain lawyer would. "Do you actually pay attention to your friends? Do you know who they talk to during lunch? How well do you see them talk without you around them?" I emphasizes three questions just to get the gears turning in Hayama's head. "What I'm trying to say is this, Hayama Hayato, do you not realize that you've been the cause of this entire problem this whole time?!"

"What?!"

Thank you for the surprise effect, Yui. At least someone appreciates my effort in becoming funny, no thanks to you Yukinoshita.

Anyway…

"When you take out one rail track out from the line, what will you have, Hayama Hayato?"

"Uh… a broken railway?"

I squatted and began picking up imaginary pieces from the floor.

Hayama looks down at me, confused. "Huh… what are you doing?"

"Oh sorry, I think you just dropped your IQ on the floor." **(4)**

"Pft…!" that's Yukinoshita stopping herself from bursting with laughter.

"It's simple, Hayama Hayato!" I said exaggeratedly. "You! You are the cause! You are their beacon of light, but without you, they are lost in the dark! Without you there to shine, they won't be able to see each other at the face!"

"Eh… can you please not use complicated words, Maki? It's as if you're Zaimokuza-san right now…"

"Haah… do I have to dumb down everything I say to a molecular level every time you need to inquire about something, Yui?" Do I?

"I don't get what you just said, but I know you're being mean!"

"Well, simply said, to them, Hayama's a friend. But to each other… they're a friend of a friend." I said. "Take out Hayama from the group and what do you get? Awkwardness."

Finally they get it!

"Ah… so it's like that…" Yui mutters. "Yeah, when the one who keeps the conversation going in the group leaves, it feels awkward that you'd want to take out your phone and do your own thing."

Finally, I've explained my reasons and evidences to the group. Then, there can only be one thing that still can do.

Yukinoshita does not miss me putting on a pair of glasses that I have… conjured seemingly out of thin air. "You wouldn't.." She whispers.

Oh I would.

"But…!"

I stretched out a finger.

" **真実はいつもひとつ** **!"**

Heh, told you that I can say it.

"Hayama!" under my exuberant tone, Hayama flinches. "There is one thing that you could do and thankfully for you, it's the best solution that you'll ever get. Not only will it stop the rumors, it will also make your not–so–best–friends into friends."

"What is it…?"

"Well…"

* * *

It's like algebra, really. You take out a part of the equation to come up with a solution and voila, there's your answer! On the chalkboard, where students' names are written in a group for the workplace visit that will happen days to come later, Tobe, Yamato and Oka's names are grouped together.

I'm slouching on my desk, not bothering on giving myself a pat on the back because I know that I just made myself look embarrassing yesterday.

Really, there is only one truth? What am I, a child detective?

"I never thought that this would work out." Hayama himself is asking that. "Tobe, Yamato and Oka were surprised when I told them that I didn't want to be in a group together with them."

"Hm, and what compels you on sharing this unimportant trivia with me?" I asked.

"Oh, but it is important." He smiles his pretty boy smile at me. "To me at least."

"Uwah… that's actually gross. Hold on, I think I puked a little."

Hayama just laughs off my tasteless jokes.

"But what about you, Uzuki-kun, do you have anyone to group yourself with?" he asks me, curious.

"Hm, well, unlike you filthy casuals who needs to attend something as lame as a workplace visit, I do not. So please, stay away from me, I'm afraid that your poverty will rub off on me."

"You're starting to sound like Yukinoshita-san…"

What?!

"What?!" I seethed. "I am nothing like that woman! My jokes, retorts and gags are much more natural! Hers are just so cold and tasteless! I swear, if the both of us were to run a comedy duo, she'd have more fun playing the idiot because of how cold her jokes are!" again, it's about that idiots don't catch colds thing.

Unexpectedly, Hayama just laughs at me. "The two of you really get along together, huh?"

I was about to puke out my lunch, but I managed to stop myself.

"Then, let's do this."

The next thing I know, Hayama's name is written under the same group as I was.

"You did not just do that."

"I just did though."

I was about to retort, but the sudden presence of an irritated Totsuka prevented me from doing anything other than fawn over at how cute he is. "Naruto, what's that?!" he says, pointing to the chalkboard.

"This guy did that himself!" I said while pointing an accusing finger at the other dude who's sitting on the empty chair in front of me.

"But I want to be in a group with you, dummy!"

"E-Eh? But weren't you in a group already?"

"I meant that as in a group together with you!"

But… why? Aren't you popular, Totsuka?

Anyway, amidst our banter, we receive the undivided attention of the class. Girls and boys are looking at the three of us as if we're doing a live television drama with me playing the role of a… two timer, it seems. But anyway, what we're doing garnered the attention of everyone, so I guess it'd be better to settle things outside. Standing up, I lock my arms around both dudes' neck as I walk out of the classroom with them.

"W-Wait, Maki!"

"Whoa! Where are we going, Uzuki-kun?"

Unknown to me, I was an idiot for doing so because of the assumption that the entire class is making.

"Did that guy just…" Yumiko squeaks out, unable to let out her voice properly.

"….velous…velous…"

"Eh, Ebina, what did you say?"

The glasses girl known as Ebina spurts into a fountain of blood. "MARVELOUS! MARVELOUS!"

"WHOA! EBINA YOU'RE BLEEDING LIKE CRAZY! SOMEONE HELP!"

* * *

School is fun, but if my life is consisted of just going to school, writing and eating ramen all the time, then it'd be pretty dull, regardless of the fact that there's ramen involved in it.

During those long years of travelling, I tried out a lot of things to prevent my life from becoming grey and dull. I took on vices and developed unhealthy habits. They stayed with me for a while, but I got bored of them quickly. Don't look at me like that, I'm not that hard to please.

But really, life for me is just that, find something that keeps you going, no matter how sad or pathetic it is. As long as I'm alive in the inside, I'd still be able to live on the outside.

"Yo, Onii-chan!"

Komachi rocketed at me, crashing to my torso. Today's one of the rarest day where I could go and pick up Komachi and walk her home. I'm also doing this for her mother, since I know that Tanaka-san's concerned about her only daughter.

The both of us walked together hand in hand, ignoring the questioning looks that we receive. I have gotten used to this I almost forgot that Komachi and I were not related at all. But we're still walking home, holding hands as if we're nothing more than brother and sister.

Maybe I was wrong. Maybe life is not only for the sake of living regardless of how dead you are inside.

Life is there for you to enjoy with those who're still alive around you.

"Hey Komachi?"

"Hm, bro?"

"Let's have dinner tonight. How does Sukiyaki sound to you?"

"REALLY?! YATTA!"

Yeah, life is more than just living.

* * *

 **1: Conan Edogawa's catchphrase.**

 **2: Randy Orton's R.K.O.**

 **3: God! He knows what turns you on!**

 **4: Okay funny thing about this burn: During a business presentation in my school, a fellow student asked a really stupid question that had everyone face palming through their faces. I decided to take the spot light and roast that dude. Everyone, including the teachers, screamed at how hot it was.**


	5. Wise intention, poor execution

Hm… how should I explain my current situation…?

"No, um… you see, I _am_ late, but-"

Well, let me start by saying that I finally understood what Kakashi-sensei feels like whenever we bash at him for being late.

"But _what_? As far as I'm concerned, as long as you're late, you're eligible for a punishment from me."

"No, you see, something came up and I had to deal with it early in the morning see…"

Damn you Komachi… because you took so long in the bath I had to suffer for you. Well, I knew she's probably scolded too but still.

"No buts, Mister I—make—about—thirty—million—yen—per—year."

She's salty about that?! That's some mighty fierce glare she's giving me there!

As usual, my mornings – after I joined the Service Club – started off hectic. I was late, explaining my current banter with Hiratsuka-sensei. But unlike a certain grey haired scarecrow that I knew of, my excuse is legitimate and it is pardonable. Komachi stayed the night with me, meaning that she had a sleepover with me last night. I let her sleep on my bed while I hit the couch. Hear that? I _let_ her sleep on my bed, it's totally not because of the use of teary puppy eyes. Anyway, she ended up spending so much time reading the comics I have in my shelf and sleeping very late.

The next morning, which is today, about two hours ago, she wouldn't wake up no matter how hard I tried. I considered using a jutsu to wake her up, but it'd be too cruel for her, so I played the patience game. I should've just used a small raiton jutsu to wake her up…

"P-Please excuse me just this once, Hiratsuka-sensei." Oi, oi, I'm seriously sorry here. What could I have done? "This is my first time I ever came to school late, right?"

I saw her sigh. She levels a flat look at me with her arms crossed. "Oh really? That's not what I heard from your , Biology, Physics and Chemistry teacher."

"But those were actual lessons, not homeroom period!"

"IT'S STILL SCHOOL TIME YOU OAF!"

She lashes at me, shocking several students. Hiratsuka-sensei pinches the bridge of her nose, attempting to calm her nerves down. Having such a high tension early in the morning is bad after all, especially for a woman like her. "I'll let you explain why you're late and then I'll punch you."

"Uh… can we just do the explaining and not the punching?"

"No."

Well, I tried.

"My 'housemate' woke up late today." And she's already raising her eyebrows. **(1)** "The person read too much manga last night and couldn't wake up early. I had to wait for her to wake up, because she wouldn't no matter how hard I tried."

"Hm… I see, but you're still late." Well, so much for explaining. "I'll write you off as late for today's attendance. Two more strikes you're getting extra work from me."

Sighing, I can only accept her condition.

"Oh and it was forty million, not thirt—BUWOOOOH!" She punches me right in the gut!

I collapsed to my knees, before finding myself writhing on the floor. Under normal circumstances, I could've dodged that, but I was too busy thinking about what happened earlier today so I got distracted.

As I was writhing in pain, I heard the sound of the classroom's door sliding open.

"Sheesh… we've got too many problem kids in this class." I heard Hiratsuka-sensei say.

I slowly opened my eyes in pain to peek at who's entering. It's a chick. Let me rephrase that; it's a hot chick. She has this frown on her face that kind of reminds me of Yukinoshita the first time we met, but it's not the worst that I've seen on a person. Her hair's silver, tied in a long ponytail, the color reminded me of Kakashi, and she probably dyed them.

"Kawasaki Saki. Are you late because you have an annoying sibling too?" I can taste the sarcasm from Hiratsuka-sensei's voice.

I saw her tilting her head with a puzzled expression on her face, then she shrugged, before walking off.

Now what's interesting is this: since I was still on the ground clutching my stomach, this girl has to walk past me in order to get to her seat. So she walked past me. And I just noticed that, the moment I looked at her, her skirt length is shorter than the standard requirements so I got myself a nice view of what she's wearing.

Black lace. My God high schoolers these days… back in my days… eh I don't know what girls wore for underwear back in my days… probably normal panties.

While I was… 'mesmerized' by the view, I failed to notice her stopping. "Retard."

"Urk…" Okay, I deserved that…

I saw her sitting on her seat, by the window. Kawasaki Saki, huh? Never knew that she is in my class, even if I don't socialize at all, I should've probably known about her from the looks alone. She's sulking as she looks out the window, her thoughts lost to the clouds. I wonder, what kind of adventure awaits me today? Or this week, for that matter.

Standing up, I limped over to my seat and as I am limping, I could feel the pitiful glances from Yui and Totsuka. I returned their looks with one of my own, except for them, I didn't give them pity, but an expression that basically says 'screw you'. Plopping down to my seat, I released a long sigh. If my mornings are going to start like this, I might as well get out of my apartment before Komachi could even enter.

Bored, I pulled out my smartphone. And I opened an application where the sad, pathetic and lonely virgins of the world converse. **(2)**

"Whoa… they killed a gorilla in a zoo? I thought they're supposed to protect them…?"

Now you all know where I got my memester degree.

* * *

Normally, after school is done, I'd directly head back home to finish the day's quotas. By quotas I mean target objectives, certain parts that I have to finish writing by the end of the day. Really, I can't help but respect the dead pervert a little bit more for being able to manage his time well. Then again… he spent his entire time peeking women in the baths and writing sex fantasy about them.

Unfortunately, or fortunately, I do not have the time to do those because one: the public baths in Japan are separated and more secured, as in it has more than just wooden fences to separate the women's and the men's side. And two, I'm lazy. I have better things to do other than ogling women all day in the baths and writing sex fantasy about them with a nosebleed running down my nose.

And, on a completely unrelated note, normal people don't get nosebleeds when they see boobs. Jiraiya was not normal.

Today, my evening is a little bit different. Instead of taking the route straight back home, I called a cab to drive me to a bookstore that I know near the station. What I'm doing could be considered as research, but unlike Jiraiya's voyeuristic tendencies, mine is not perverted or lewd at all. I'm going to look at how good my books are doing on the shelves and this bookstore that I'm currently heading towards at is known to promote my work more often than other stores and by that I mean they always put my books on the front of the shop for a longer period of time than other books usually gets.

Arriving at my destination, I head into the store after paying the cab driver my fee. I can't just waltz into the store like a normal person, unless I want all of my evening to be bombarded with fan guys and girls. I brought a cap and a pair of thick rimmed glasses as well as colored contacts, non-prescription of course. I do this often and some of you might be wondering why can't I just chakra to disguise myself as another person, well, it's because I see no use in wasting chakra for things like this.

I'm not in the condition to use chakra as freely as I used to, anyway.

As expected, the front shelves are packed with my books, ranging from the first to the latest work. And there is a crowd of people gathering around it. I watch as people pick up the unsealed samples that they have to let people read what it's all about, and I can see several men and women bringing a copy of their choosing to the counter.

Mind you, while I do this often, I don't really do this as a routine; only if I feel like it. I can always get the sales report from my publisher after all, but it's nice to actually see people buying your books like this.

Satisfied with what I've seen, I turn to the entrance to return back home. But unlike before, I don't bother calling a cab because I plan to stop by a café to grab myself a nice cup of hot cocoa.

"Hm?"

As I'm walking, I caught sight of a familiar form, the back of a person. A shorter individual, with a long silver ponytail, wearing my school's female uniform.

"What a small world we live in." I muttered to myself.

I got a closer look at what Kawasaki-san is doing. She's examining a notice board posted on the wall of a building, a prep school registration building. Basically, a prep school is a school primarily designed to prepare students for college. They leech off your summer vacations, forcing you to study and suck you dry from every single penny you have.

But that's just my opinion.

I saw Kawasaki-san sighing, before leaving with her stoic and indifferent expression that she's known to make. I watched her leave with curiosity and interest, but I dismissed it as nothing important. Whistling to myself a small tune, I made my way to the café I was heading for.

After ordering a cup of pure hot cocoa, I walked to take a seat on one of the vacant seats. I unlocked my phone as soon as I had it out, checking for text messages. Expectedly, I have several of them and most of them are from Tanaka-san. I sighed as I looked at the title of the messages. Just how soon do they need the new storyboard anyway? I know that Icha Icha is a good series but aren't there also other stories that they publish aside from my own? Wow, I feel sorry for the other authors. No wonder they gave me the cold shoulder whenever we'd celebrate as a company.

As I was sipping my hot chocolate and browsing my phone, I overheard a familiar voice speaking. Curious, I looked away towards the source of the voice.

And look who I found.

"So what does this prefecture's famous for anyway?"

"Uh… Peas? Boiled peas?"

"Are peas the only things this place is famous for?" I said, intruding into their conversation.

Just as I expected, Yui recoils in surprise from hearing me suddenly speak and appear next to her.

"Whoa! Oh it's… it's…" Yui's face morphs from surprise to pure confusion. "eh… who might you be?"

I blinked, trying to figure out what she means. Then I realized that I still have my disguise on me. "Oops, sorry." Taking off the cap, glasses and contact lenses, I can then see the look that dawn on their faces. "It' me."

"Uwah, Maki… I almost didn't you recognize you there. Honest." Yui's amazed for some reason.

"Oh, Naruto, you looked like someone else I couldn't tell who you were." Ah, there's Totsuka too. Good to know.

And finally… "Hm, I'm not that surprised. Of course only someone as degenerated as Uzumaki-kun would walk around town wearing a disguise as if he's chased by somebody." There's no need for me to tell who this is…

"Oi, oi, you don't have to be so mean about it." walking over next to Totsuka, I took a place next to my fellow male. "But you're more or less correct about the being chased by somebody part. Well, some people might be the correct word."

"Hm, why?" Yui's asking me with a tilted head.

Sipping from my drink, I then answered her, "I write books and I'm pretty popular, so I don't want people to recognize me while I'm out in public."

But all I get is a skeptic look from Yukinoshita. "You write books you say? And popular? I'm afraid I have to disagree with that." she crosses her arms, giving me a challenging look. "I'm well versed in literature and books, so why haven't I heard of you yet?"

I gave her a blunt look of my own. "I use a pen name, duh. And the book I write isn't for audience that is under eighteen years old. So I'm not surprised if you haven't heard of it." sipping my chocolate again, I then speak after I'm done. "But you know it as Icha Icha."

Upon hearing the two words, Yukinoshita's whole look changes.

No, I kid you not, it's like she's a different person.

She's as red as a traffic light, maybe even redder than that. She found it very hard to look at me straight in the eyes for some reason.

Ohoho… we have a naughty girl here.

"U-U-Uzumaki-kun…!" the Yukinoshita Yukino just stuttered. "W-Why are you looking at me with that stupidly huge smile on your face?"

"Hm~? What do you mean, Yukinoshita-san~? I'm always smiling aren't I~?"

It doesn't take long for Yui to connect two and two together. She too, then, becomes red.

"M-M-Maki! Y-Y-Y-You're the author of that perverted book?!" she's shouting, garnering everyone's attention on us.

Hissing, I shushed her down. "Oi be quiet about it! I don't want unnecessary attention here… and yeah, I am Jiraiya, the author of Icha Icha." I raised my brow. "So you guys know about my book, how?"

"Urk." I only expected it to come from Yui, but not Yukinoshita.

Don't mind the large smirk I have plastered on my face like a poster. I'm enjoying this too much.

"A-As I've said before, I am well versed in literature and its medium, s-so it's only natural for me to know about the existence of s-s-such books." You know that feeling that you feel when seeing that one uptight friend acting all embarrassed and shy? Yeah, that's what I'm feeling right now. Man, is this how Sasuke would act like if I embarrassed him?

Hope so.

"I-I-I… uh… I…! I-I accidentally found it while I was cleaning my parent's room! I-I can't believe that my dad would read something as lecherous as that!"

"Then does that mean that you've read it too, since you know that it's lecherous?"

"Wha?! I-I-I uh…!" you know that feeling when you see that normally cheerful and outgoing girl being made to do or confess something perverted? Yeah, that's what I'm feeling right now. Man, is this how Hinata reacted whenever we'd get all intimate? Nah, she's more confident.

"Mu… the three of you are so lost in your own world." Totsuka grumbles. Ah, he must have felt left out from the conversation. "It's as if I'm the fourth wheel here."

"Eh… I think there's nothing wrong with being a fourth wheel…" I mean, most cars have four wheels after all. "But don't worry, it's not like I forgot about you or anything." I didn't know why, but I ruffled Totsuka's hair. Huh, his hair is way softer than Komachi's hair. Smells better too.

"O-Oh… hehehe, Naruto touched my head~" for some reason, Totsuka is happy.

"Aaaanywaaay…" don't glare at me Yui. "What are you doing here, Maki?"

I retracted my hand from Totsuka's head. "Just returned from a small visit to the book store, nothing more." I said before taking a small sip from my drink. "What are you guys doing here?"

Instead of Yui, Totsuka, who is sitting beside me, answers. "We're studying together!"

Looking at Yui, I narrowed my eyes.

"Urk…!"

Why are you making a face that says 'crap, I forgot to invite him'?

"If you didn't know, then that means you weren't invited, Uzumaki-kun." Yukinoshita says, flicking a lock of hair behind her shoulder.

"I know, so no need to rub salt on the wound already…" can this girl stop being so goddamn savage for a moment? I waved my hands, brushing off Yui's uneasiness from not remembering to invite me on this study session. "Anyway, you guys are more thoughtful than I thought."

"If you're talking about studying, I think that it's something essential for a student to do." Yukinoshita answers me. "Like eggs in making cakes."

What a nice simile there, Yukinoshita-san. I found myself questioned by Yui. "What about you Maki? Any plans for college or further education?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "Nah, not really. I'm not really interested in adding more mental torture from studying into my life, high school's enough. Besides, I'm loaded already, nuff said."

The two girls and one guy look at me with different looks. Yukinoshita's rolling her eyes, showing disappointment. Yui's pouting, obviously jealous at how easy I'm having it. And Totsuka's more or less sheepish, not knowing what to say.

"What an easy going man…"

"Easy going, right?"

"Maa…"

As normal girls leading normal lives, I can see why they're eager to study. Japan is strict in education and it's something that becomes the basis of judgment. If you graduate from a good school or university, then you're guaranteed to find good jobs in the future especially in that specific field that you spent your time in during school and university. If you're uneducated, unemployed, basically a NEET, people will consider you as nothing more than a nuisance in society, unless you somehow manage to rejoin society.

There's also a matter of how important schools are to Japanese people. As students, who spend most of their times in school rather than home, you shape your future during those early stages. Who you hang out with, what kind of lessons do you prioritize and how you behave in an environment filled with people with different goals and personalities will shape your future and lifestyle. This is not only true in Japan, as I've seen this happening in other countries as well.

So right now, to Yukinoshita's, Yui's and probably Totsuka's eyes, I'm probably a rich douche who'll use all of his money lavishly and then starve to death when I've ran out of it.

It's amazing to see how society has changed over the long years. Back in my days, as long as you could count to a hundred, do basic mathematics and physics, you're pretty much a-okay in life. But there were other factors such as being a shinobi and at that page, everything's different. Shinobi life was different from normal civilian life. You're obligated to do your duties every time and as long as you're a shinobi. Whether it's patriotism or simply for the cash, at the end of the day, you're not your own man anymore.

You're your village's disposable assets to be used whenever and however the village sees fit.

After… the war, there had been a declined in the shinobi population. Civilians back then weren't eager on becoming shinobi because they fear of dying an early death. And I can't blame them, even now. I can't blame parents who scolded their kids just because they wanted to become 'cool' like ninjas. I can't blame the families who rioted in front of the Hokage tower because they suffered from the loss of important family members.

I couldn't and I can't.

Becoming a shinobi is not just a matter of choice.

It's a calling, really.

I became a ninja because my dreams called out to me. 'Become Hokage'… that's what I've been hearing during the early stages of my ninja career. But along the way, that calling started to fade, changed by something else that I've picked up during those grueling long years. It changed to saving my best friend, then it returned to becoming Hokage, then it changed again into wanting to surpass my mentor then, inherited from the same mentor and a fellow protégé, world peace.

"Ah, Onii-chan!"

The loud yelling that probably disturbed the whole café snaps me from my thinking. I turn to the front entrance of the café and someone I knew enters, running at me. "Komachi…?"

And… who's that boy beside her?

* * *

"Nice to meet you! I'm Hikigaya Komachi and thanks for always taking care of my Onii-chan, even though we're not related at all!"

…

…excuse me for the moment, but the presence of this… boy over here is annoying for me. Who is he? What is he to Komachi? How does he know her? And why does his face look like a side character's?

Yui's shaking hands with Komachi, and I can see the disbelief on everyone's faces. Even Totsuka's.

"Uwah… I can't believe that Maki has a younger sister, even though she's not related at all." Don't make it sound like as if no one's willing to treat me as someone who's more than friends.

"It's nice knowing that Uzumaki-kun didn't coerce her into calling him 'Onii-chan'. Otherwise, I would've called the police already." No, no. You did that just a moment ago, remember? Right when Komachi walked here calling me Onii-chan?

"Heeh… so you're Komachi-chan, huh? Nice to meet you, I'm Totsuka Saika!"

I saw Totsuka introduce himself to Komachi. Being the young girl she is, Komachi responds with a friendly and cheerful manner. "Uwaah… you're so cute! Ne, isn't she cute, Onii-chan?"

I nodded. "That's true, but she's a boy."

"Onii-chan, you're such a joker!" no, believe me Komachi.

Komachi then realizes that no one's laughing. Her smile transforms into shock. "…eh? It's true?"

Mwahaha, feel my pain no girly! Feel the pain of having happiness taken away from you by force!

"Yes that's right…" Totsuka mutters shyly. "I am a boy."

Basically, Komachi's making the same look that I made when I first learnt that Totsuka's actually a dude.

"I'm Yuigahama Yui! Nice to meet you, Komachi-chan!" isn't it a little too late to be introducing yourself, Yui?

Komachi smiles. "Ah, nice to meet you too." she's looking at Yui weirdly now. "Hm? Hmm….?"

I'm sure that Komachi's about to say something, but whatever it was, Yukinoshita shot it down when she speaks. "That's enough, isn't it? Pleased to meet you, I am Yukinoshita Yukino." Yukinoshita introduces herself in a formal manner. "I'm not really a friend of Uzumaki-kun and I'm not exactly a classmate of his so… I hate to say this but, we're acquaintance?"

I scoffed. "Well screw you too."

"Anyway, Onii-chan, I'm here because a friend of mine wanted to talk to me about some problems." She's referring to the dead meat that's sitting next to her. I took a silent look at the boy, putting up a neutral face. He's the one with the problems, eh? So why is he involving my little sister (unrelated) into this?

"U-Um… I'm Kawasaki Taishi and I go to the same prep school as Hikigaya-san." He comes to the same prep school too? "And my sister goes to Soubu High with you. She's a second year."

Oh, I recognized the name. "Kawasaki, huh? Kawasaki Saki?"

I saw Taishi rising his eyebrows. "You know her?"

"Not really." But I do know what underwear she wears though. Black motherfucking lace. She'll be a keeper.

Yui claps her hands together. "Ah, Kawasaki-san, right? Isn't she kind of scary?"

Stirring my now quarter cup filled drink, I asked, "You're not friends with her?"

"Well I've talked to her before but…" Yui trails off, becoming sheepish. "Hey don't ask girls questions that are hard to answer. We don't know how to answer them."

I glared. "Then don't say anything if you don't know a thing about it."

Yui returns my glare, before pouting.

"But I don't think I've ever seen Kawasaki-san hanging out with anyone." Totsuka says, looking like he's recalling past encounters with Kawasaki.

Hm… so she's anti-social and cold too. Gee… who does that reminds me of I wonder…

"Ara, what are you looking here for, Uzumaki-kun? Do I need to put some restraining order for your eyes?"

"And I'll sign the forms up myself." I retorted.

"Anyway… it's like, Taishi-kun's" wait, 'kun'? "older sister's turned into some sort of a delinquent. Honestly speaking, Onii-chan, I was expecting to be the one with this sort of problem!"

"Just what do you think of your brother (unrelated) huh?!"

But Komachi ignores me. "She's been coming home really late every night. And Taishi-kun asked me, like, how to get her back to normal."

Suppressing my overwhelming urge to tsukkomi, I crossed my arms.

But Yukinoshita speaks before I even could.

"When did she turn into a delinquent?" our club leader asks.

"Only recently." Dead meat over here says, answering Yukinoshita's answer. "She was good enough to get into Soubu High and she was a model student when she was in middle school, really nice too."

"In short," with a thinking manner, Yukinoshita attempts to piece the pieces together. "she changed when she was put in the same class as Uzumaki-kun, huh?"

"Can we please stop making me look like a total jerk off? Can we? What am I, some sort of disease that I'd infect people just by being near them?"

"I never said that." Yukinoshita says, completely innocent my ass. "You're just being insecure, Uzumakootie-kun."

This girl… this girl…

You know, if I couldn't take jokes or was not used to deal with insults, I'd snapped already. It's bad enough that people commented about my whiskers marks, and the annoying times when they'd mistook me for a foreigner…

But I got ninety nine problems, but being a whiny ass bitch ain't one.

To stop this whole charade from going overboard, I'm glad that Yui speaks to continue the discussion.

"You said that she comes home late, but how late are we talking about here?" she says while stirring her drink. "I come home pretty late myself."

"So it takes one to know the other huh?" I commented, scratching my chin.

"What do you mean by that, huh, Maki?!" Yui demands.

"W-Well… a bit past five am." Taishi reveals, shocking even me.

"That's practically morning." I said.

"Have your parents done anything about this? Do they know about this?" Totuska, asking the important questions. What would we do without you?

From seeing the pattern of how this conversation went, I can already guess the situation. But for the sake of it, I'll let Taishi explain.

"Both of our parents work all the time, and we have a younger brother and younger sister, so they can't do anything about our sister."

"Family circumstances, I see." We all turned to Yukinoshita. "Every family has their own, I guess…"

 **#relatable** , huh?

Knowing Yukinoshita, there's no way she'll reject this.

"Okay." Yukinoshita declares, almost as if she has something planned out already.

"You're planning on doing something?" I asked.

"Taishi-kun is the younger brother of Kawasaki Saki-san, a student in our school and Taishi-kun is asking this for his sister's sake. I believe that this is an obligation for the Service Club to act."

But if you ask me, this problem is borderline personal. Taishi's family over here definitely has problems even without Kawasaki-san's case of suspicious behavior. And as mere students, who are not even close with Kawasaki-san to begin with, we'll only be seen as a nuisance if we go against our better judgment.

Yukinoshita's an opportunist, but she's a passive player. Unlike me who's active and willing to do anything to ensure success. She plans out her action without even knowing the success rate. And that's a contradictory to how I operate. I'm basing my thoughts from experience, so it may come off as biased, but I think that Yukinoshita's plan will not work.

Well, at least the first few plans.

Even so, I'll go along with this and see how this will go.

"Hm?"

I felt Komachi tapping me on the shoulder.

"Hehe!"

…now how can I say no to that face!

* * *

The next day, today, after school, the members of the Service Club and Totsuka gather to have further discussion. I'm here sitting at the other of the table with my hand perched on the surface and my chin resting on the open palm of my hand.

Yukinoshita is about to fully explain her plans and we're all here to listen to her.

"After some thoughts, I think that it would be best if Kawasaki-san resolve this issue on her own."

"Give a man a fish and you'll feed him for a day, but teach a man how to fish, you'll feed him for a lifetime… huh?" I quoted out. "Nice idea." But how are you going to make this work?

"Have you ever heard of 'animal assisted therapy?"

"Oh, you mean a way of therapy that improves a patient's social, emotional, or cognitive functioning by letting them interact with animals like doges and kyats?" thanks, Wikipedia.

"Yes. And that is what we are going to try." Yukinoshita says.

A few minutes later, here we are, gathered in front of the school's gate, with my cat.

Ah, I forgot to mention it but I do own a cat. No, I really do, it's not for plot convenience or anything like that, I just have him kept at Komachi's house, since she loves cats.

"Everyone, this is my cat, I call him Dog."

"This is your cat… but you call him, Dog?" Yui asks, tilting her head.

"Yeah, he's a good do-I mean cat. Yeah, he's a good cat."

"You're confused there for a second!"

"My God, would you please stop shouting?" I scolded. "You're always shouting Yui, 'I can't bake cookies!', 'I'm a part of this club!', 'my vagina's bleeding!'" I said in a high pitched tone.

"My vagina is not bleedi-" then her face turns redder than anything else in the world. Redder than Mars. "…you're a mean jerk Maki…"

"Cut it out you two, we're in the middle of carrying out an important plan here." Yukinoshita interrupts our bickering. "So, with Uzumaki-kun's cat, we will try to mellow out Kawasaki-san out of her current behavior." Hm… I guess that I should try this out to you too sometimes.

"Well," I sighed, squatting up back to a stand. "let's just hope that Dog will be able to melt Kawasaki-san's cold heart." And in the meantime, I'll find an animal that'll mellow yours out.

Yukinoshita pulled out several sheets of papers with words printed on them. "I've determined each of the tasks that all of you will need to do." She hands out the papers to me, Yui and Totsuka. "On your places people."

So the three of us went off to do what's written on our papers.

After taking a quick read at mine, I cursed Yukinoshita to the nine hells. Why? Well, she wrote 'don't fuck this up' in bold letters. That's all she wrote on mine. Who does she thinks I am? A detriment to the plan? A rust on her gears? Well I sure ain't, I'mma go and give that bitch a piece of my mind…

"Oi Yuki-"

Oh ya?

"…nya. Nyaa~"

Oh ya, oh ya?

Now what do we have here~? It seems that our resident Ice Queen has a warm spot for cats in her heart. She's playing with Dog, an expression that I have never seen her make before is present on her face. I know that spying is rude, but I was a ninja, so fuck that. Here I am, peeking my head sideways from the school's gate, while everyone else that walk past me is giving me weird looks. I have had my phone on record ever since stumbled upon this rare sight, how can I not exploit this?

With the good amount of blackmail on Yukinoshita that I've gathered over the past few weeks, I'm sure to win when she wants something unreasonable. I let myself enjoy a few more minutes of the rare scene, basking in the chance of having been able to see it. Life is going to be good from now on, I can just feel it. After a while, I said enough is enough.

So I approached her.

"Hey, Yukinoshita?"

She jumps to her feet, no doubt surprised by my sudden calling.

"What is it?" don't mistake the calmness in her voice. She's doing everything to make herself look and sound calm.

"No, it's just that, we've been waiting for so long and the plan's not moving forward so-"

"I believed I ordered you to remain on standby." She cuts me off. "I see that you can't even follow a simple order as that. But don't worry, I factored your stupidity and inability to do a simple order into the plan, but frankly, I have no idea that you were this worthless. What would it take to drill my orders into your denser—than—osmium brain?"

This is just her way of saying, 'don't tell anyone or else I'll fuck you up', basically. And believe me when I say that I'm doing everything I could to stop myself from grinning ear to ear like an idiot.

"Hm?" the sudden ringing of my phone brought an end to Yukinoshita's subtle threatening session. Reaching into my pants' pocket for it, I retrieved and answered the call. "Oh, Komachi, what's—"

" _Um, Onii-san? This is Taishi. Hikigaya-san-"_

A boy's voice. The dead meat's voice.

"Who on earth allowed you to call me 'Onii-san'?!" I hung up with a huff.

A few seconds later, I received another call by Komachi's number.

I picked it up.

 _"Why did you hung up on me?!"_

Tch, this kid… "I'm busy right now. I'm waiting for your sister to come here."

 _"Yeah, about that plan… my sister's allergic to cat."_

That's… actually pretty cute. The _gap moe_ is there. **(3)**

"Hm… so… I think that Kawasaki-san's not exactly comfortable with disclosing her problems with someone her age. Maybe she needs another adult other than her parents to talk it out." Totsuka says while the rest of us peek out from the lockers.

"She needs Jeezus…"

"Shut up, Uzumaki-kun."

Whoa, she's still mad…"

* * *

Totsuka's plan is pretty much self-explanatory. Find an adult and let Kawasaki talk to said adult. Done.

But it's not the plan I'm worried about here…

It's our choice of adult.

We saw Kawasaki herself walking down the busy corridor with her bag, ready to leave school. As expected, she leaves school earlier than most, since she's not involved in any club activities.

"Hey Kawasaki, I heard that you have been coming home late lately." Hiratsuka-sensei, who's been leaning on a wall this whole time, looking completely _not—so—suspicious_ , suddenly walks up to Kawasaki and says this.

I saw Kawasaki giving her the stink eye.

Hm, my roast senses are tingling.

"What do you want, Hiratsuka-sensei? And where did you hear about that?"

Hiratsuka-sensei persisted, like the mature adult she is. "Now, now. It's not good to keep those emotions all bottled up inside, come on and let's have a nice talk with sensei." She even smiles charismatically. "Going home late all night is hard, isn't it, and your parents might be worried."

"…PFT!"

"Shh! Don't laugh Maki!" Sorry Yui.

"Hm, what I do and not do is none of your concern, sensei. And what do you know about parenting, sensei? I mean, you're single, right?"

 **T.K.O**

We all watch as Hiratsuka-sensei slumps down to the floor in total defeat. And to add salt to the wound, Kawasaki says, "You should think about your own future first sensei, like, getting married, for example."

"Oooh… wait a minute, let me go over there and give her some burn heal."

"I think she needs more than just a burn heal, Naruto…"

* * *

Siiiince that plan was a complete fail, and heartache in Hiratsuka-sensei's part, we've decided to hear what Yui has to say. We're outside on the side of the school, the parking lot. Students who go to school with bikes parked them here. We heard from Taishi that Kawasaki brings hers to school.

"If she returns back into her bad behavior after a short period of time, then it's no good. So, how about we change her completely?" you're the last person I want to hear saying things about change from, Yui.

"But, how?" Yeah, Yui, just like Yukinoshita says, how?

"There's only one reason why a girl would change so much!" now she's ripping off Kamina. "Like… love?"

I so have to see this scene. Please author, proceed with the scene!

 _Kawasaki yawns, feeling today's fatigue. After a day filled with activity, how can one not get tired? Her eyes are lidded, but she knows that_ _she has to keep on going._

"Hey, good work over there."

 _It was out of nowhere, like the finishing move of a certain professional wrestler._

 _She heard him call out to her, her! She slowly turns around to grace herself with the visage of the voice's owner. And the sight before her was one that she would take into her dreams._

 _He was standing before her, the sun behind him and the wind breezing through… he couldn't look anymore…_

 _Charming._

"Been working after school? I hope you're not overexerting yourself."

 _My word?!_

 _He was worried about her? Her?! Someone who he had never met before? Something welled up inside Kawasaki's chest, but it's not pain._

"Thanks for the concern." _She couldn't act so weak, not with her pride on the line!_

 _But he was like lightning, striking not only once, but twice._ "If you ever need a shoulder to lean on, I'll be there."

 _Her world was overcome by stars, roses, a field of roses underneath a starry sky! Saki can taste the sincerity in his voice!_

But… but…

"Ah, sorry, bye."

… _but she's not interested_ in the pretty boy who just got shot down! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"Not only did you narrate the entire thing with sarcasm, but you laughed too! That's beyond mean Maki!"

"C-Can you blame me? Hahaha… I just get to see mister pretty boy over here got shot down… hahaha! Oh God the irony…"

"M-Maa, it's fine, it's no big deal."

In the middle of my laughing, my phone rings again. Immediately, I turned to it. "I am not your brother!"

 _"What are you talking about?"_ Oh it's Komachi. _"Anyway, listen to this Onii-chan, Taishi-kun's sister just got a call from a weird café somewhere!"_

Way to drop the bomb…

But man, good thing I had that entire scene recorded.

* * *

Man, the things we do for our clients.

We are now out of school, in the city area.

"So, she received a call from the manager of this 'Angel' café and had to go to work?"

"Basically, yeah."

Standing in front of a suspicious establishment, the members of the Service Club plus Totsuka's waiting for somebody to arrive. "I checked around but apparently, Chiba City has two places with the name Angel and is open all night."

"And this place is one of them?"

We're standing in front of Otaku heaven called a Maid Café. It's self-explanatory. It's a café with maids. I won't go into details into how that's a thing, but this is Japan, everything's pretty much weird here. The establishment's exterior is decorated with a fancy sign that has the place's name, so I know that this is the right place.

"I'm not too familiar with places like this…" Totsuka says. "What's a maid café like?"

"I'm not too familiar with them either." I answered, shrugging my shoulders. "So, I brought somebody who's… experienced in this field."

"AHEM!"

The author would like to apologize for the cringe line that the readers is about to read.

"IT IS I! ZAIMOKUZA AND IT IS MY TIME TO SHINE UPON THE SPOTLIGHT!"

"Ew." That was Yui.

"H-Hey! You asked me to come here and this is how you greet me?!"

I shook my head "Sorry, your cringiness breaks through walls." The fourth walls. "And it looks like the thought of dealing with you is more troublesome than this whole thing."

"Then stay silent and follow me!"

With no other choice, we followed Zaimokuza into the café. We entered and we're immediately greeted by a maid as soon as we reached our tables.

"Welcome back home myaster, woof!"

Sorry for the double cringe.

Ah, Yui and Yukinoshita are away because they get to try and dress up as maids.

Totsuka's looking around, completely immersed by the visual aesthetics of the place. Zaimokuza's sitting silently, as if he's used to the atmosphere, while I'm here, sitting, picking my nose. I don't usually eat out in the first place, so there's really nothing for me to be enthusiastic about.

"Sorry for the wait, masters!"

…on second thought, maybe there's something for me here after all.

Yui emerges from wherever she's been for the past few minutes, appearing right before my, Zaimokuza's and Totsuka's eyes. She's dressed in an alluring maid uniform. Alluring, but not skimpy. It brings out a charm in her that I've never seen before. With her light pink hair and brilliant eye color, she makes the uniform look good on her.

And her chest does not disappoint.

"H-How do I look?" Yui poses around, trying on ways to show her appeal.

"Whoa! You look so good, Yuigahama-san!" Totsuka's sincerely exaggerating his praise. "Doesn't she, Naruto?"

I was dozing off when Totsuka asks me this. "Naruto?"

"Oh, eh, yeah. Sure."

"At least say yes!" Yui pouts.

"Hmph!" It looks like Zaimokuza has something to say. I better close my ears. "It does not bring the desired effect because you are not a real maid, Yuigahama-san!"

"No, no I'm pretty sure everyone else here isn't a real one either…"

"But if you ask me, I very much something _more_ …"

He's lookin-no, _leering_ at Totsuka.

I threw the ketchup bottle at Zaimokuza.

"OW!"

"Ah, my hand slipped."

"LIKE HELL IT DID!"

Unaware due to our banter, another person steps into scene. In the end, it is Yui who notices first.

"Whoa, Yukinon! You're totes cute! Beautiful! Like a doll!"

Even I can't look away for a second. Yukinoshita's beauty is different from Yui's bright and alluring one. Hers is far more emphasized by the air that she always has around her, rather than looks alone. With her pale skin, lithe frame and long black hair, she is a life sized porcelain doll, fragile to the touch.

Still, her bust's nowhere as big as Yui's.

"Uzumaki-kun." I flinched. "Why do I have the sudden urge to murder you?" she's holding one of the steak knives on the table.

"Don't point that at me, I'm allergic to sharp things."

Yukinoshita gives me one last glare, before setting the knife aside. "I've checked earlier, but Kawasaki-san does not work here."

I raised an eyebrow. "How do you know?"

"I checked her name on the shift schedule, but it wasn't there. And considering that she receives a call from home, I doubt that she works under an alias." Her answer pretty much decides what we should do next.

"Most curious indeed…" now what are you saying, Zaimokuza?

"What do you mean curious?"

"A tsun-tsun girl who works in secret… should go 'welcome back home master!' and 'mou, what are you doing here?' THAT IS HOW FATE SHOULD HAVE WORKED!"

"Now you're just being creepy, tubby." And please don't get me started on how many times have we received weird looks from the customers here… it's bad enough that they're staring at Yui and Yukinoshita, but I don't want them to stare over here because of you too.

Sighing, Yukinoshita then says, "We're going to the last place.

* * *

I'll admit it, maybe I was lying when I said that I rarely eat out. The thing is, there were times when people from the publishing company would invite the writers out with them for a drink, even if some of them were minors. But I was different see, I'm actually of legal age to drink and I've been drinking out with the company people every now and then.

"Angel's Ladder. The stairway to heaven." I am more of a fan of Highway to Hell myself.

The girls are not here yet, because they need to go to Yukinoshita's house which was nearby to grab a change of clothes. Apparently, this place has a very strict dress code. Thankfully, I didn't need to run all the way back home to change, since there is ZARA nearby. **(4)** Now I'm all dressed up in a suit, a semi-formal suit that I just bought recently. It consists of a maroon buttoned up collared shirt, a purple and blue blazer with dark red patch on the elbow as paddings, a pair of black slacks that are little too tight for me, a pair of brown oxfords and a brown leather belt. I had my hair swept back, but I got lazy so it's messy.

"S-Sorry for the wait!"

Oh ya, oh ya~?

It seems that I've been lucky all this time.

The two girls are now dressed in a completely different attire than before. And I have to say, it's refreshing to see them like this. Yui's picked up a purple one piece dress with frills. She wears high heels, earing and has her hair on a different style. I notice the light make up, like the fake eye lashes and blush on. I found myself staring at Yui, but Yukinoshita does go outdone. She's wearing a different style of clothing than Yui, an off shoulder dress with a darker shade of purple, and a sash tied around the waist area. She also has her hair tied into a ponytail, unlike usual.

"Whoa, Maki, you look cool!" Is it that surprising to see me dressed like this? "You should wear more clothes like this one!"

"Heeh? Nah, too troublesome." I shrugged. "I'm just dressed up like this for certain occasions."

"Hm? Where are the other two?" Yukinoshita's referring to Totsuka and Zaimokuza.

"They don't have the right clothes, so they went home." I said. "We'll have to finish this with just the three of us."

"Very well."

Our little group walks toward our destination, a bar lounge located on the floor we're at now. Can't say I've been here before, even if I did, I was probably too drunk to remember. We enter the double door with the sign 'Angel's Ladder' on the side, and upon entry, I was greeted by an atmosphere that I haven't been in quite a while. The lounge is peaceful, with nice relaxing piano music playing in the background live. The lights are dimmed down and people are chatting quietly, drinking their night away.

"Uwaah… this place's another kind of thing, eh?" It seems like it's Yui's first time in a place like this.

"Don't look around, Yuigahama san. Back straight and chin down." And it seems that Yukinoshita's been to a few bars of her own.

We walked inside the lounge, heading straight for the bar. I saw a familiar sight of silver hair, gleaming underneath the lights. Grabbing a stool, the three of us sat down with me in the middle. Tapping down my knuckles on the bar's surface, I prompted our subject to come.

"Vodka martini, shake, not stirred."

"Unless you're someone with Bond in his name, then I'm not going to serve you that?"

Ouch. "…then I'll have a margarita."

"Yeah, sure." Well, at least I tried.

I observed as she prepares my cocktail. Her form is adequate, so she must have been doing this for quite some time. "Kawasaki, why don't you stop this whole thing already? It benefits no one, not even you."

Kawasaki stops preparing my drink. "Excuse me, but do I know you?"

"One of your classmates doesn't even know who you are? Are you really trying in life, Uzumaki-kun?"

"I don't know Yukinoshita, am I?" rolling my eyes, I grabbed the nearby lighter. Pulling out a fresh pack of cigar from my breast pocket, I lit the tip before proceeding to smoke.

"Eh, you smoke, Maki?"

"Only on occasions." Usually after a passionate night.

After hearing Yukinoshita's voice, Kawasaki finally realizes. "Yukinoshita…"

"Hi there, Kawasaki-san." Yui greets awkwardly. Well, our current relationship with here isn't exactly friendly anyway.

We settled down and Yui and Yukinoshita order their own drinks. Non alcoholic, unlike mine.

"So, what are you three stooges doing here?" the source of our problem asks, while wiping several drinking glasses. "I highly doubt that the three of you are on a date or something."

Well, gee, thanks.

"Of course not. The mere thought of you assuming that we are currently on a date is already offensive on its own, I do not need you to voice it out."

"Oi, the both of you, can you keep your roast to a minimal? I'm drinking here." crap, my glass's nearly empty. "Anyway, Kawasaki, your lil bro's worried at how you're coming home late."

The three of us heard Kawasaki letting out a huge sigh, but she still does her work. "I had a feeling that everyone's been paying me too much attention lately, so it's you guys' fault, huh?" she sets down a now dry and clean glass along with the other clean ones. "I don't know what Taishi told you, but nothing's wrong. Just leave me alone."

Stirring her glass, Yukinoshita comments, "The spell breaks at midnight for Cinderella, but for you, it breaks just about now." I looked at my phone and the clock displays 21:50. Ah, she has curfew.

But Kawasaki does not falter, she looks back with a smirk. "But I'll just live happily after the magic ends. Happily ever after. Not all fairytales end with the Princess getting escorted back to a mansion by her Prince charming, you know?"

"I wonder about that, my Little Mermaid." So we're pulling out Disney references now? Ooh! Ooh! Let me try!

"You can say that Kawasaki will have to Let It Go, after she's done here."

.

.

.

"Oh come on!" no one appreciates me anymore!

"Ignoring what the oaf said, I think only suffering and despair await you."

From the back, Yui's grabbing my attention. "Hey, what are they talking about?" she asks in a hushed voice.

Still sullen, I answered, "We can't work night shifts at our age. So that means Kawasaki's been lying about her age."

"Eh… why does she do that?"

"I don't know, maybe adults get paid higher?" duh, Yui."

"Well, screw you Maki, you don't have to be a jerk about it."

Back to the duo's heated conversation…

"So, do you plan on quitting?" Yukinoshita asks.

"No, not at all." Kawasaki's answer comes out as easily as diarrhea.

Yui, probably feeling a little uneasy at how roundabout things have been going, tries to put in her two cents. "Hey, Kawasaki-san, I work too when I need some money, but I don't lie about my age when I work."

"Don't matter. I just need money."

I swear, any duller and I could've mistaken her for Nagato Yuki…

"Yeah… but—"

"I don't want to hear someone who makes forty million yen per year talk about making money in an honest way."

"…I'll shut up now."

Damn it, what's with women these days?! They're so goddamn good at roasting!

"Life's not easy. And I don't work because I need pocket money, don't compare me with those idiots who do shady things in the streets of Ginza. You guys may act like this, but I doubt that you would even try to afford me what I need. You think that you can afford me things that my parents couldn't?"

"Wait a minute-"

"Say…"

I can already tell that the shit is about to hit the fans.

"Your father's one of them big shots in the prefectural assembly, right?" you can see the moment when Yukinoshita flinch. "I do not expect someone who's born with a silver spoon fed into her mouth to understand this kind of situation."

That was the final straw.

I broke my glass.

Everyone in the lounge must've heard it crack, I mean, the glass literally breaks into pieces from the pressure from my fist. Great, now I have blood on my hands.

"You know, Kawasaki… I agree with you."

I see the looks of surprise on Yukinoshita's, Yui's and even Kawasaki's face.

"We're in the wrong of telling you what to do with your free time. I mean, it's not like we're responsible for you or anything, we could care less if you get into trouble for faking your age." Despite how it came out, I'm speaking silently right now, so that only the four of us can hear it. "But just as we're wrong for justifying your decision into working late night shifts, you're also in the wrong for pulling out a cheap trick like that. Bringing out Yukinoshita's family like that is a cheap shot, hell, it's cheaper than that. You want to play like that? Then fine, I'll play by your rules: you're fucking naïve if you think that you could do everything on your own. You're doing this for a reason? Tell us that reason, then we'll discuss about it properly. You won't? Grow up."

I'm not pissed. I've given this kind of speech so many times to people.

"I can respect you if you're doing this for your family, but that's not the reason now is it, Kawasaki? I know why you're doing this. And I know the aftermath of your decision. Yui, Yukinoshita and Totsuka… we all know about the little sisters and brother you left at home, worrying about their big sister who's supposed to be there for them."

I stood up, pulled out a wad of bills, placed them on the counter and smiled.

"But I guess you don't. Come, Yui, Yukinoshita, we're leaving."

Halfway to the exit, I spoke, "Kawasaki, if you want to make things right with your siblings, meet us at McD's tomorrow morning at five."

* * *

To be honest, Kawasaki reminds me a lot of younger self. While I was cheerful kid back then, there was a part of me that thought that he could do everything himself without any help from people. But I guess I was more selfish than her, because I had no one to do the things for. The result of our stubbornness, determination does not always lead to success. They often leads to peril and misfortune. I am a firm believer in hard workers, and I guess I admire Kawasaki for doing the things that she needs to do in order to get what she wants.

But not like this.

I'm not saying that her way was wrong, I insisted that her way is wrong. Kawasaki is obviously gathering up money so that she could enter a prep school, though her ways of getting money isn't the worse method there is, I still couldn't approve it. I mean, it's fine as long as she understands the consequence, faking your age to work at a proper establishment can land you a serious sentence, but she's also doing this on the expense of her siblings.

Taishi's a good kid, no matter how much I dislike him for being so close with Komachi, and I can tell the genuine concern he has for his sister. I know that Kawasaki knows that her brother is worrying for her, but does she do anything? No. She keeps on doing the one thing that further aggravates her brother's worry. Despite this, I can tell that Kawasaki cares for Taishi. Family has love running in them, no matter how distant the members are.

"Taishi? What are you doing at this hour?"

I'm here in McD with Taishi, Komachi, Yui and Yukinoshita.

"I could ask you the same thing, sis. What are you doing at this hour?" I can understand why Taishi is nervous.

"That's none of your business."

Before a sibling argument could break out, I spoke, "Kawasaki, let me guess why you're looking to earn money."

I looked at Taishi.

"Taishi, have you been doing anything different ever since you started your third year of middle school?"

"I started going to prep schools, but that's about it." the boy answers me honestly.

"Oh, so she's working for her brother's sake."

"No, it's wrong, Yui." I rejected the idea. "He started the prep school in April, which means that whatever tuition that needed to be paid should already be paid by then. Our school is a college prep school and those who're serious with their education should probably be thinking of getting extra education outside from school."

Taishi finally realizes. "Nee-chan!"

The older Kawasaki sighs. "That's why I said that you don't need to know. I plan to go to college, I don't want to burden our parents anymore or you because of it."

Wise intention, poor execution.

That's the case with Kawasaki here.

"Ano, if I may say a few things?"

Unexpectedly, even for me, Komachi raises her hands.

"Well, you see, my parents work too. When I was little, I hate coming back home to a house with no one inside, so I ran away from home once."

Ah, this was about that, huh?

"But it wasn't my parents who came after me. It was my Onii-chan."

How can she say that with a smile?! Isn't she embarrassed?!

"So, since that day, he'd always visit me and cook dinner together with me to make sure that I wasn't lonely at home. He even let us keep his do-I mean cat over at my home!"

"Um, if I may say something, isn't it because he's a loner that he's always coming to your house?"

"Oi!" even if that's true, that still hurts!

"Yeah, that maybe too, but regardless of what the reason might be, having Onii-chan there at my side makes me happy."

God I'm so embarrassed right now… is kindness the new bullying?!

"So, what are you trying to say?" Kawasaki, don't raise your voice at my sister. I don't care how hot you are.

"I know that you don't want to be a burden for your family, but please try to see the people who you're hurting."

I hugged Komachi.

"Wha?! Onii-chan!?"

"Shuddup."

While I have my face pressed into Komachi's hair, I then spoke, "Hey, Kawasaki, do you know what a scholarship is?"

* * *

"Is that what siblings are like?"

After solving our case, resulting in a mended relationship between two siblings, I think that I can consider my job done for the day. I held back a yawn, because I couldn't afford to get sleepy now that it's morning already.

Scratching the back of my head, I answered, "It depends on the family." I glanced inside the fast food restaurant, looking at Komachi who's currently eating some fries. "You can call them the strangers closest to you. And in my case, it's literally."

"I see, I can understand that all too well." For some reason, I don't doubt you, Yukinoshita.

The four of us said our goodbyes as we went home on our separate ways. I have to make sure that Komachi returns home safely, since it's still quite early. It's a weekend, so there's no school.

In the middle of our walk, Komachi yawns. I did call her quite early to meet up at McD, after all.

"Ah, that's right, Onii-chan."

"Hum?"

"So you met her after all, eh?"

"Who?"

"You know, the snacks girl? The one that gave the snacks when you were in the hospital? Man, it's good for you huh, to be able to meet someone as cute as Yui-san because you broke your leg."

"Oh."

Well…

Somehow, I'm not surprised.

.

.

.

"LIKE HELL OF COURSE I'M SURPRISED!"

"Whoa! Don't shout all of a sudden, Onii-chan, it's still morning!"

* * *

Service is dedication put through action. That's how I see it.

But if that dedication is fake… then it's only pity.

I hate being pitied. For a proud warrior that I was, pity was the lowest form of insult that you could give to me. And I had a lot of people who would agree with me on that. My week went on normally, until the day that we actually get to visit the workplaces that the school was discussing about a few days ago. As I look at my classmates who're happily discussing, asking questions for the goodness of their future, I felt left out.

But this time, it actually makes me feel empty.

I don't know what caused this feeling, but I doubt it's because of me being left out. The past few days, all that I have in mind was my unknowingly important encounter with Yui. Why didn't she tell me anything? Is she keeping it a secret for me because she felt sorry for me? Or was she ashamed for me to find out that it was her whose puppy I saved? At this point, I'm afraid to ask.

I've dealt with emptiness, disappointment and heartbreaks before… only now am I reminded at how sharp those knives are.

"Hey, Maki, where were you? Everyone else is already at the restaurant!"

Yui… I…

I smiled.

"Sorry, I got lost on the road of life."

"And you're still joking about it… anyway, let's go, they'll finish everything if we don't hurry."

My smile widens.

"Say, how's that puppy of yours? The short one?"

"…!"

She's surprised. Of course she is.

"You know Yui… maybe things would have turned out differently if I wasn't there to save your dog. Or maybe things would've still be the same, even if I never saved your dog. But… I have to ask you, Yui, are you being nice to me out of pity?"

I have to know. Because otherwise, all of that effort that I made into knowing her will be flushed down the drain.

"Well… I don't know…"

Even now, she's laughing it out.

Yui is a good girl. She'll be a good one till the bitter end.

"Y-Yui…?"

She's crying…? Why?

"You jerk."

She left me, leaving tears on her trail.

Yes… yes I am.

But, I chased after her.

I know what I did wrong and I will correct it here right now.

"Yui!" I grasped her shoulders, preventing her from fleeing the area. "Listen to me, I'm sorry! Yui!"

"No!" she's choking. "You're just an insensitive jerk who doesn't know how other people feel!"

"Yeah, I am, but please, listen to me!"

"Let go of me!"

We're causing a scene, it's a good thing that no one from school is still here other than the both of us.

I spun her around, forcing her to look at me. Her face is flushed and eyes red due to the crying. I realized my mistake.

"I'm sorry for asking you those questions, Yui… I never meant to doubt your intentions. But… I want to know why? Why did you keep silent about it? Why didn't you tell me?"

The look that Yui's making right now is the face of someone who has something say but couldn't say what it is would make. "I… I… I can't…! I… can't!" she's crying even harder.

And I'm starting to feel worried.

"I can't tell you Maki…" she says in the midst of weeping. "I'm afraid that it'll end everything that I have… now…"

She does not stop there.

"You, Yukinon, this life… it's all I have and I don't want it to disappear just because of a feeling."

A feeling?

…hell, I'm really bad at stuffs like this. I pulled her into an embrace, one that she tries to break free from.

"L-Let go."

"No."

"Let go of me Maki!"

"No."

"T-Then I'll scream assault!"

"Do it, I doubt that you'll do it."

"…what do you know about me?"

"I know that you cry a lot, that's for sure. I also know that you don't like violence. I know that you like talking and I also know that you have troubles on making friends, maybe even more than I do."

Yui does not answer.

"But, Yui, listen to me. You don't have to answer your reason for keeping your identity a secret from me anymore because that doesn't seem like it matters anymore."

I placed my chin on her head, resting my head there.

"Now… what matters the more is that you're someone I consider friend. And I'll feel bad if a precious friend cries because of me."

I can hear her sniffling on my chest. I just hope that she doesn't rub her snot there.

"I'm sorry Yui."

Yui doesn't answer.

We stayed like this for more than a minute, with people looking at us. At this point, I don't care.

I realized that I couldn't blame Yui for hiding who she really is from me, because I haven't taken her anxiety into account. She's bound to be nervous when she met me, and I guess she did feel guilty for indirectly causing me that broken leg. But that was in the past, it doesn't matter now. My insecurities, my worries… I thought I got rid of them all a long time ago, but it looks like some of them still remained. I was afraid that Yui was doing all of this out of guilt, that she wasn't sincere with our relationship.

But now I know that her feelings are the real deal.

I'm sorry Yui, for doubting you.

And thank you, for getting to know me.

"Hey, Maki, are there yet?"

"No, just relax back there, I at least owe you this much."

"Hehehe, damn right you do."

The two of us, with me carrying Yui piggyback style, received a lot of a stares when we entered the restaurant looking the way we did.

* * *

 **So I have finally brought the changing point of the story.**

 **Let's see how this will turn out…**

 **From here and on, things will be different. The plot will be less canon and more on fanon because of that change in that very last scene. We all know that there was tension, awkwardness going on between Hachiman and Yui in the anime, but that's not the case here. Why? I'll give you a clue.**

 **Look at the genre for this story, look at the word with the letter 'R' as the first letter.**

… **now let the shipping begins.**

 **I am willing to consider pairings now, so please, review kindly.**

 **1: Japanese pronouns are hard, but I'll try my best to explain, basically, Naruto's referring to Komachi in a gender neutral pronoun here.**

 **2: 9gag**

 **3: when a character does something completely contradictory to what their usual habits/personality/character/appearance dictates.**

 **4: a famous brand for formal wear**


	6. Miss Understanding's birthday

" _Making my way downtown, walking fast, faces pass, and I'm home bound~ du du du du du du~"_

 **KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK**

" _Stari_ —oh shit, coming! Coming!"

Who the hell dared to interrupt my relaxing cooking time?!

Still dressed with my apron, I walked up to my front door and then took a peek from the peek hole like thing on my door. And boy was I surprised. Quickly opening the locks and all that, I swung open the door, finally seeing my guest face to face.

"What are you doing here, Yui?" the words come out from my mouth with very minimal surprise.

Yeah, surprise.

Yui's face flushed red for some reason, then I noticed that she's sweating and wearing layered clothing, a sweat shirt with a hoodie over it. Oh, and it seems that she's wearing jogging pants too. "O-Oh Maki! Thank God, I was afraid that I might've gotten the wrong place." I saw her sigh in relief.

"That's good to know." I'm still suspicious here. "So, what brings you here? And how did you get here anyway? You can't enter this building without calling me from the intercom outside."

"E-Eh… there was this nice old lady and I saw her coming out from the building. She a-asked me what was I doing loitering outside and I said that I'm here to visit a friend but… but I didn't know that you had to call from the intercom so…" she hangs her head in shame. "she let me in…"

I blinked. A legitimately air headed Yui, huh.

Well, I wasn't going to question her being here while she's still outside. "Well, come on in. I just made breakfast, so you're in luck. You eaten yet?"

"N-No."

"Then good, because I'm in the middle of cooking right now."

I let her into my apartment but I directly returned to the kitchen, I don't want the food I cooked to burn.

"Wow, it smells good!" I can hear Yui say from the living room. "What's cooking?"

"Something simple." I said. "Salmon, miso and rice."

"Whoa, that's so Japanese…"

It's amazing for me how my composure is nonetheless affected by Yui's sudden presence in my apartment. I mean, with what happened during the workplace visit, can you blame me for thinking that it was awkward? But I like it that things aren't awkward between us. It's been a week ever since the workplace visit and Yui and my relationship isn't affected by that little moment that happened between the two of us. I'm glad that it turned out that way and I'm glad that I reached out to her, otherwise we wouldn't be talking like this anymore.

I can just picture things getting awkward between us, and let me tell you, I'd do anything to stop that kind of thing from happening.

"You want anything in particular, Yui? Like eggs or something?" I raised my voice so that she could hear me from the kitchen.

"Oh, I'd like that!"

"How'd you like them?"

"Scrambled!"

I snorted. "So much for being a Japanese breakfast…" I muttered while breaking two eggs into one bowl.

Awhile later, I've finally finished cooking and I brought both of our breakfast to the table. Yui's fairly impressed at seeing me for some reason. "What, never seen a guy wear an apron before?"

"N-No, I was kind'a expecting it to look silly at you at first but now that you're carrying all those plates… it looks natural."

"Gee, thanks for being blunt. Well, at least you're honest." I rolled my eyes, making my sarcasm obvious.

"Moou, Maki you jerk!" she's calling me a jerk, but she's eating my cooking right now.

In the middle of our meal, I asked, "So, why the sudden visit?" I got a rather amusing reaction from Yui. She choked on her food, as if she isn't suspecting me from asking her that question. I see her miserably try to look around for something to drink, I but I haven't pulled out the orange juice yet so she settled for the miso soup.

"Puaah! Oh, this soup's good!" you're distracted Yui. "A-Anyway, what was your question, Maki?"

I sighed. So we're playing it like this, eh? "I asked, why the sudden visit?"

"Eh… er… um…" she's looking around the room, she's trying to avoid my question. I'll play along, it's not every day that I get to start my mornings like this. "I… was just curious about where you live, yeah!" no, no, you totally came up with that on the spot. "Look, I mean, I've been to Yukinon's place, right, when we needed the clothes to visit Saki-san's workplace? So, I got curious and decided to see yours. And, whoa, does it looks good."

Well that's good to kno—like hell I'll buy that!

Narrowing my eyes, I don't need to have a full brain to tell that Yui's lying. Something must have happened. Judging by her nervousness and how incredibly red her face is right now, it's probably nothing serious. By serious I meant things like her house suddenly got caught up in flames or getting mugged on the way here or something like that.

"You're not a good liar, Yui." I pointed my chopsticks at her. "And I'll appreciate it if you don't lie to me."

She sighs. "W-Well… I just thought that… it'd be nice for the two of us to go to school together, y-you know!? As friends, of course, n-nothing more!"

"Hm, yeah, I see… but… what about your uniform?"

"Oh! Don't worry, I brought them with me," she points at the backpack that I apparently missed out. "see? I even brought shampoo and all that!"

That's not something that you should be proud of… "Alright, but still, why? What compels you to come to my house so early in the morning and walk with me to school?" Please, answer me.

Now she's all fidgety and all that, seriously girl, what's wrong with you? You gone coo coo?

"I just… wanted too! Why?! Is that a problem for you, Maki?!"

Now she's angry. "Whoa, chill there Kill Bill, no need to get all Tommy Devito on me all of a sudden."

Pouting even harder, Yui sinks back into her chair while resuming her eating. "I just… want to express my gratitude for having done so much for me…"

"Is this about me saving your dog?" I kind of expected that she'll confront me about this anytime soon, just not today.

"No!" she shakes her head. "Even if Sable's precious, you still did so much for me… things that I can't mention, things that I'm not really sure about, you've done them all for me." a teary smile appears on Yui's face. "No amount of thank you's are going to be enough to express how grateful I am."

"…"

"…"

…damn, well, so much for trying to not make it awkward.

Playing with the yolk of my egg, I then spoke, "Then don't say anything." before Yui could even misunderstand what I meant, I cut her off. "Knowing that you're so grateful about what I've done for you is enough for me. You don't get much people who says 'thank you' after you've done something for them these days."

"O-Oh…"

I faked a cough. "Well, let's finish our breakfast, if you don't want to be late then we'll have to leave soon. Ah, you can change in the bathroom, I'll wait for you."

Upon seeing my smile, Yui smiles in return. "Um!"

* * *

My morning with Yui was… unexpectedly pleasing.

Aside from Komachi who intrudes into my house from time to time, having someone to chat with during breakfast does good to your morning. You're hearing this from a guy who's been living alone with no solid relationship, so I can guarantee that it's something nice. After breakfast we went to school together, and since Yui lives far from where I live, she's not used to arriving so quickly to school. Thankfully, no one noticed that we got out from the same house, walked together on the same road and entered class at the same time.

We talked on the way to school, just normal chats about trivial things. Yui's the one doing most of the talking, while I just answered what she has directed at me. It might sound annoying but it wasn't. It's actually enjoyable. Never knew that chatting with someone, getting immersed in the conversation and letting time slip past us could be so enjoyable.

When I talked to people, I try to not relate to them. Simply because I don't want to make any real connection with them, except for a few people that I know of. It's harder for me to forget about the person when I know their favorite food, their birthdate and their favorite color. I'm a guy who can't ignore a person who's opened up to me. That's my biggest weakness.

To think that I was the same dude who used to talk his enemies into surrendering… heh, I was like the Teddy Roosevelt of the ninja world back then, now that I think about it. Speak calmly, slowly, but carry a big motherfucking stick while you're doing it.

Sighing, I pulled my mind out of the forest of thoughts, returning back to my surroundings.

Right now, I'm in the club room, working on my manuscript. Speaking of which, the deadline is soon so I can't miss it. Of course, I'm not alone. Our esteemed club president is here with me, sitting on the other end of the table, immersed in her book. I swear, she has a book for every time she's here. Oh well.

"Did something happen to you with Yuigahama-san?"

My fingers stopped from its unending typing of keys on my laptop's keyboard. I took a moment to look at Yukinoshita, who's eyes are still glued to the book she's reading, before eventually returning to my own work.

"Nothing. Nothing happened. Why?"

"Hm. For some reason that I can't quite my finger on it, I can sense something going on between the two of you." she says. "She's been coming over here more often than usual," I can feel the sharp turn in her tone. "and it feels like the two of you have been meeting up occasionally outside of clubs too."

I answered without missing a beat, "Ah, yeah, you're right, now that you mentioned it. But I see nothing strange with it, in fact, it's not strange at all right? Yui's also a member of this club now, so it's not strange if she's here more often than usual, right?"

My response is delayed. "I see. Then pray tell why she's not here right now."

"She said something about running an errand for her mom or something after school."

"…and you know this, how?"

"She told me this morning."

I can hear something screeching, probably a chair. "I… see… it's odd that Yuigahama-san hasn't told me anything about it."

"Mhmm? Why is that?"

"Well, as club president, it's only natural that she'd inform me about things like this first before a fellow club member."

"Mhmm… then don't the thought of her telling me so that I could relay the message to you occurred in your head?"

"Then why didn't tell you me earlier?"

"I just did." I smirked. "Earlier."

Naruto: 1 Yukinoshita: 0

I can feel Yukinoshita's glare, but it quickly recedes into nothing. "Anyway, Uzumaki-kun, please do try to inform me if things like this happen in the future. As club president, I'm indirectly responsible for your participation and performance in this school."

"Yeah, yeah."

I must've irked her off at that point, because I can tell that she's glaring at me again. "Hmph."

We're interrupted by the sound of door sliding open. Yukinoshita must've looked hopeful, hoping that it was Yui, but no, it's just Hiratsuka-sensei.

"Sensei, please knock…" I'm sure that's just Hiratsuka-sensei's way of saying 'screw you and your ethics', Yukinoshita…

But being the 'respectable' adult she is, Hiratsuka-sensei ignores Yukinoshita's plea. "Heeh? Yuigahama is not here? Strange, she's been coming here a lot lately, hasn't she?"

"She's running an errand." Yukinoshita says, quoting what I said earlier regarding Yui's absence.

"Oh, well that's great news then." Our club advisor takes a chair and she sits next to me on said chair. "She's not quitting, that's good." I inched myself away from her, feeling slightly uncomfortable with someone sitting so close to me while I'm working on my book. "Then things will be fine, between the two of you, I mean."

"Oh," Yukinoshita raises an eyebrow out of amusement and curiosity. "pray tell what do you mean by that."

"I mean the bet that we agreed on when we started this, remember?" ah, now she's just flooding my thoughts with unwanted memories. But I do remember what she's talking about. "To see who's able to help people most efficiently? I assume that you're still intent on winning, Yukinoshita?"

From where I'm sitting, I can hear Yukinoshita's amused snort clearly. "Of course. Losing to that person over there will be like losing to a snail in a race. Near impossible to lose." I can just taste the smugness in her tone. But this is just Yukinoshita being the sassy bitch she is, so I didn't take her words to heart.

"Remember Yukinoshita, it was the turtle than won the race with the rabbit." I countered smoothly and naturally without the slightest hint of being bothered by her comment. "Who knows how many steps I've walked while you're too busy resting yourself under that giant tree you call your ego."

It seems that Hiratsuka-sensei knows when things are going to go bad, so she stops us before things escalate. "Alright, you two, break it up. It's a friendly competition, remember, so no fighting." I rolled my eyes and I can sense Yukinoshita doing the same. The both of us hear Hiratsuka-sensei sigh. "Seriously, the two of you are so alike."

That made me stop typing and it does the same to Yukinoshita who was reading her book.

"Excuse me? / Excuse me?"

She sighs again. "See?"

Don't glare at me Yukinoshita, it's you who copied me…

"Welp," standing up, Hiratsuka-sensei gives us the idea that she's about to leave. "just keep on doing what you're doing now and I'm sure that things will go smoothly." She walks to the door, sliding it open, but not exiting just yet. "And remember, it's a friendly competition."

With that, she shuts the door and I can sense her walking straight towards the faculty room. After her departure, the both of us return to our previous activity and moment of silence. However, this time, I really feel the need to break it.

"Was it really a good idea to have this competition in the first place?"

As usual, Yukinoshita's reply is smooth and fast. "You're asking me? We agreed on it and I intend on winning. If you'd like to commit defeat, then please, do so now so I may bask in victory."

Ha ha… I rolled my eyes. "You know what, if things are going fine, I might just let you win this one."

As soon as I said those words, I can hear the sound of a book being shut close as if the hands that were holding them have had enough of it. "Oh, and why is that?"

"Because honestly, even though it's nice to help people, I don't really see the point of doing this anymore."

"Oh? So you like helping people but you do not see the significance of the act of helping itself? What a hypocrite you are, Uzumaki-kun."

Still typing, I retorted, "Now you didn't let me finish. I said it's nice helping people, but I don't see if making a huge game out of this is right."

"Then why did you agree to the challenge?"

I shrugged. "Honestly, it's because you were annoying when I met you for the first time. I thought that I had to show this bitch her place and the place where she should be making my sammich." I leered at her with a face splitting grin. "Offended now?"

"Hmph. From your poor attempt at discrimination, I'd say that I have had worse." She returns to her book. "It pains me to admit it but I think that I might have been tainted by your desensitized nature and horrible sense of humor so badly that your earlier attempt of a poor joke was too poor for me to even consider it as an offensive statement." she says. "Enough, Uzumaki-kun, you will accompany shopping for Yuigahama-san's birthday gift tomorrow and you will have no say against it."

"Yeah, yeah, sure."

We're close you say? Nah, we're just not throwing things at each other.

Yet.

* * *

I don't usually go out much to shop for people's birthday… But when I do, it's usually for myself and close friends back then.

Right now, I'm in the middle of this plaza square like place near the station. This place is a central hub for people because it has pretty much anything nearby. Restaurants, shops, the train station, cafes and even a mall. Me and my soon to be announced shopping are going to go the mall to shop for Yui's birthday gift. I've been noticing the stares around me and I must admit, even after all of this time, being stared at is something I'm not used to. But can you blame me, though? I was a ninja after all, not being seen is my profession. Well, at least after my genin days.

As I stroll around the area looking for my partner, I happened to stumble upon four desperate men trying to 'convince' a girl to join them. I took a closer look and I'm not surprised when I recognized the identity of the girl.

"C'mon girl, come with us, we'll have lots of fun."

"No, I am here for an appointment, please go bother someone else."

"Appointment? You here on a date or sumthin'?"

"I… no, it's an appointment."

I sighed. She better owe me for this…

"Ahem."

The four desperate men turn around, gracing me with their pitiful looks. I looked down and stared at the supposed leader right in the eyes. "Do you have any business with me and my friend?" I asked. Without looking around me, I can already see the attention we're garnering.

Unfortunately for me, these guys are persistent. Usually, when I pull this off, they'd scamper off immediately. "Hoooh? So this is your boyfriend missy? Well, he's good looking that for sure." I can't take that as a compliment because a dude like him says it. "What's the matter, bro? We're just talking to her, no problem widdat', right? After all, she's just a friend of yours, ne?"

Raising my left eyebrow, I can only show minimal reaction to his cockiness. "Oh, no, no. I don't. I don't have a problem with you talking to her."

"Then it's all fine, yea-BWUUUUGHHH!"

Everyone and their mothers have their jaw hit the floors when my fist connect to the dude's jaw, launching him into the water fountain nearby. The guy's friends stared at their leader's wet and unconscious form in shock as he floats on the water, bleeding from the nose with a… disfigured jaw.

"I may not have a problem, but my fists do." My eyes narrowed. "Now scram before I shove your foot up your ass and turn you into a popsicle."

Needless to say, they all run like hell, leaving behind their unconscious and bleeding friend. I dusted my hands and walked towards a slack jawed Yukinoshita.

"You just – You just…"

"Shh, what the cops won't know won't hurt 'em." I shushed her, pushing her along before everyone's making a ruckus. "Let's just get this over with."

After that is done, we quickly walk into the mall and now we're walking side by side. I can hear Yukinoshita sighing already.

"Really, Uzumaki-kun, this is going to return and make a whole new problem that we have to face eventually." I can sense the worry and concern in her tone, whether it's for me or for her, I do not know.

"We?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, 'we'." She huffs. "I'm an accessory to crime, how can I not be involved?" Ah, so that's what she means…

"No, no, you're the damsel in distress and you could be a possible victim if I hadn't interfered." I corrected her. "Now, where's my thank you."

"Hah, not a chance in hell."

Now that's the Yukinoshita we all love and know.

As we walk, I cannot help but admire my esteemed club president. I'm so used to seeing her wear her school uniform; the mere sight of her wearing something other than it makes me think that she's a whole new person. Unlike that day at the bar, Yukinoshita's wearing something more casual and… I daresay cute. She wears a one piece blouse that covers her knees, but I'm sure that Yukinoshita's decent enough to wear at least a pair of shorts underneath it. She has her hair done into a set of pigtails, making the sight of her all the more appealing than her usual one. I can't say anything about her shoes, other than _'damn, Yukinoshita'_. **(1)** And as far as smell goes… she's wearing a different perfume from yesterday.

And, eh, I have a sensitive nose; so it's not like I'm sniffing her off right in front of her face or anything.

Anyway, our walk is accompanied with the increasing number of people around us as we walk deeper into this shopping area. I can already see the shops from a while ago and now, I'm seeing more. Most are clothing stores, for obvious reasons, but there are also stores that sell odd trinkets and miscellaneous items. I swear, I even saw an adult shop a few stores ago.

Again, I don't always shop much, so this is kind of a… rare experience for me. I tried, ever since the discovery of my immortal status, to avoid people and never associate with them. I find discomfort being in crowds or any crowded place for that people but I quickly grew accustomed to it again. I can walk around in public now, whereas I couldn't before due to my emotional and psychological state that were messed up due to the harsh reality of being unable to die and pass on.

Still, just because I've been living for so long, it does not mean that I have the patience for shopping.

"Say, do you have any idea what to buy in the first place? I mean, we've been walking around for twenty minutes and we still haven't decide on one shop yet." I asked. Even I can't stand shopping.

"No, I haven't. I was hoping that you'd have an idea in mind. Or was I wrong to depend on you, Uzumaki-kun?"

I scratched the back of my head, the spot above my neck. "Well, it's wrong of you to assume that I know what to buy for a teenage girl's present in the first place." I mean, come on, I don't always buy gifts. And when I do buy, it's not for girls like Yui. "You're the one who suggested this outing, so why don't you think of one?"

"Hmm…" she's making a thinking expression. I can see that she's scanning the shops around us, before finally pointing her finger at one. "Then how about that one?"

"We've passed that shop for four times now!" I balked.

"A lady's decision making process is much more complicated than men's, please do try to realize that from now on, Uzumaki-kun."

"More complicated my ass…YEOWCH!" SHE PINCHED MY CHEEK! "What was that for?!"

"For being rude." I can see her smile mocking me even from miles away and since she's actually close to me, I can feel that mockery intensifying.

Anyway, we approach the store of Yukinoshita's choice and begin browsing.

It's a normal clothing store, figured that we'll be shopping in a place like this. Normally, I'd be fine with this, but this is one of them places where there are only girls inside. Really, the only guys here are the ones with girlfriends. To avoid suspicious stares at me, I intentionally linger around Yukinoshita whilst she's browsing.

Obviously, I don't buy women's wear, so I'll let Yukinoshita deal with the choosing. It's not like my opinions matter anyway. Occasionally, whilst we're here, she'd come up to me asking for opinions. I told her that I'm not that good with fashion and she only gave me a disappointed look. This girl expects a lot…

"What do you want me say? I don't dig girl clothes."

"Yes, while I'm now aware of that, I expect you to at least attempt to give your opinion." She sighs mockingly. "It seems that I made a mistake for expecting such things."

"Oi, don't act as if I've disappointed the whole world just because I can't decide what a girl should wear." I muttered dryly.

"Oh but I should and you should too." she retorted smoothly with a hint of sass that she's famous for always having. "What would happen if, let's say even though it's one in a million chance, I were to allow you choose a set of clothes or a nice dress for me? I would be totally disappointed, sad even at your poor decision making skills, if you're unable to do something as simple as that."

"Then you shouldn't have asked me to choose for you in the first place! You bitch, what more do you want?!"

"What any other girls want, Uzumaki-kun." Her eyes gleam. This bitch is getting kicks from messing with me…

"What you mean, my hot, long and juicy meat rod in your pussa-"

"Finish that sentence and you will no longer have your so called 'hot, long and juicy meat rod' or whatever you want to call your pathetic phallic organ that excretes urea from."

I shut my mouth. Women, no matter how they are; when it comes to dick-threats – hehe, dick threats – they're always at their scariest.

* * *

Anyway, we're nearing a hardware store. I walked to the store's front and stopped for a moment to grab something from the small rack display.

"Oi, Yukinoshita."

She turns to look at me.

I grinned, whilst lifting up a box full of puns. " _Screw_ you."

She frowns and walks inside the shop. I waited for about five seconds and she returns, holding a clear box full of nails.

"Get bent."

We both stare at each other before eventually laughing, well, a giggle from Yukinoshita.

After our bad pun nonsense, we return to our point of being here, and that's to look for gifts for Yui's birthday.

"Hm… I wonder," I muttered whilst 'admiring' a statue display of a lingerie store. "why are women's underwear so, flashy? What's the point of tryin' to make them look as nice when you're not going to show them off?"

Yukinoshita walks past me, saying, "Then what's the point of being proud of your phallic organ when you're not going to show it off every time you men are out in the public?"

My head swiveled slowly towards her direction. I raised a finger and opened my mouth. Then I closed it and lowered my hand.

Lessons were learned.

But not for long.

"What do you reckon a tranny would do when they have to choose between the male and female washroom?"

Currently, we're heading towards the washroom. Just before we reach there, this thought occurred to me.

"Obviously, they're going to choose one of them."

"Yeah but which one?"

"Why don't you go buy some girl clothes and a wig and experience the event yourself?"

"No thanks…"

I pissed while in deep thought later.

Since we're tired from walking around, and it's just about time for lunch, we decide to relax our tired legs but not our mouths at this well-known but overpriced café.

"Seriously, starbucks?" I groaned.

"What? Too expensive for you?" for once, Yukinoshita looks at me with disbelief while stirring her cup of café latte with one of the thin straws that goes along with most hot coffee beverage.

"No, I don't mind the price, but really?" I sighed. "Could you get even more stereotypical than this?" I looked around. "And who actually sits around in starbucks anyway, huh? This business's created to make your coffee pronto, only hipsters drink here. And are we hipsters, Yukinoshita? "

"To answer your first question, us Japanese, mostly." She sips her latte. "And to answer your second question, no, we are not hipsters, and no, hipsters do not call themselves hipsters. It's un-hipster-like of them to do that."

I just sat there, sipping my hot chocolate.

Now that we're refreshed with caffeine or hot chocolate in my case, we're back to actually shopping for Yui's gift. Yukinoshita suggests that we look at the upper floor, since we've found nothing but distractions on the lower one. There are more clothing stores above but I really don't think that we're going to find what we're looking for directly.

Anyway, we visit this one clothing store that pretty much looks the same as the ones downstairs, thanks a lot Yukinoshita.

After exactly twenty minutes of me standing there like a complete idiot, we're back to square one, on floor one.

"I'm confused. You women have so much time to browse yet you never find anything." I may have been too blunt. "How?"

"As I've said before, Uzumaki-kun, do not compare our decision making skills with that of men's." she says to me in a scolding voice. "Your testosterone filled brain could never hope to match ours."

Well, I just shrugged. I'm not surprised that she'll answer me like that, really. I'm more surprised that I'm actually walking together somewhere with THE Yukinoshita Yukino. As we all know, Yukinoshita is one of the most well-known students in our school and is also considered to be one of the most beautiful. So, in every young boy's standards, I'm one lucky bastard.

Lucky? Nah, I don't feel lucky. If anything, she's going to make me her pack mule and carry everything she'll buy today, regardless if it is a present or not.

"Let us check on that store, Uzumaki-kun." She pulls on my sleeves and I gazed at where her finger's pointing at.

"Eh, sure." It's not a clothing store, thank God.

It's hard to describe the store, because of the things it's selling. It pretty much sells all the girly things that girls need. Bracelets, earrings, rings, necklaces and all sorts of fashion accessories are available for people to browse. Oh, there are clothes too, but unlike before, there're less clothes here than the accessories. Once again, I'm standing here with nothing to do.

"Uzumaki-kun, how's this?" I turned to look.

Yukinoshita dons a purple apron with cat motifs on it. I thought I saw the same cat on her book that she always reads in the club room… but I could be wrong there. I must say, it suits her well, I mean, Yukinoshita can cook, so I don't see anything weird with her wearing it.

"You're gonna give that to Yui?" I asked.

She nods, confirming my thoughts. "Um." She returns to the mirror, affixed with her own reflection while donning the apron.

"Hm… don't you think that Yui would like something that's a bit more… frilly?" see, this is why I can't give fashion opinions. "Something that an airhead like her would wear?"

"That's quite cruel of you, Uzumaki-kun." She looks back at me, giving me a wry look. "But it's so true that I do not know how to respond."

"Well, then, you're just as cruel as me for agreeing." I grinned.

"Then I'll get her this." Yukinoshita picks up another apron of a different design and color. Unlike her purple one, this one is pink with a lot of girly frills around the edges. I can actually see Yui wearing something like this.

"Oh, why not? You're the Troy Bolton of your frilly pink apron." **(2)**

"Hm, that's actually a good one, Uzumaki-kun."

"Thanks, I do try sometimes."

I saw her folding both the purple and pink apron. "You're buying that one too?"

But she only gives me a small glare, answering my answer regardless as she approaches the cashier. I waited for Yukinoshita to pay and was about to walk off the store and continue with our shopping, however… someone intervened.

"Ara, Yukino-chan?"

Everyone inside and outside the store turned towards the owner of the voice. I, myself, am not exempted from this. A beautiful young woman entered the shop, easily garnering the attention of most men within the vicinity. I have to admit, even I was staring at her for a full second. Her hair was short, but it's the same shade of black as Yukinoshita's. Her eyes too and when I took a closer look at her, so does her face. So they're sisters, huh? Never knew that…

Ah, never mind.

"Ah, I knew it, it was you!"

"Nee-san!" oh, confirmed.

I didn't miss the hostility in Yukinoshita's tone.

Feeling something pricking at me, it turns out to be this 'Nee-san's' stare. She smiles at me, sweetly.

"I'm Yukino-chan's older sister, Haruno."

* * *

We're now outside, me, Yukinoshita and the older Yukinoshita. Standing in the middle of the floor near a round bench that borders a palm tree. She's directing her introduction to me, obviously. Now see here, normally, I'd be unfazed at meeting normal people. BUT I NEED TO TAKE A PISS GODDAMMIT!

Again, yes, I'm the kind of guy that goes to the toilet a lot.

"What's your name?" she asks me.

Blinking several times, I answered her. "Uzumaki."

"Uzumaki, hm…" she appears to be thinking.

Um… I'm already uncomfortable with having to hold my bladder, now she's checking me out, what's the worst thing that could happen next?

"Uzumaki-kun, eh?" she nodded, happily, for some reason. "Okay! Nice to meet you!"

The three of us sit on the bench nearby, the older Yukinoshita is sitting between me and Yukinoshita. As soon as we sit, she wastes no time bringing up questions about our misunderstood relationship.

"So, when'd you two start dating, hm?" she's poking Yukinoshita, trying to get an answer from her sister.

It seems that Yukinoshita gets fed up with her older sister's persistence that she bursts. "We're just in the same grade."

Dissatisfied, the older Yukinoshita turns to me.

I answered her like that one weird purple cat—like—kid in that one cartoon that I watched **(3)**. "I'm not her boyfriend."

"Oho?" now she's poking me. "Look at you all flustered up," for the record, no, I am not. "and what's this, are these whiskers? Aw they're so cute!" and something else is pressing against me. Her boobs. God… Yukinoshita is related to this chick? Man, I have high hopes for her when she's older.

Even from here, I can feel Yukinoshita's eyelids twitching with irritation. "Nee-san, if you would please stop that."

"Ah, sorry." The older Yukinoshita apologizes to Yukinoshita, looking mildly sorry. "Nee-san got a little bit too excited." Just as she says that, and when I thought that I had finally escaped her grasp, she returns to bugging me. "Ne, Uzumaki-kun, want me to tell you a little bit about Yukino-chan? I'm sure you'll find them interesting."

If you're talking about potential blackmail materials, then sorry, I have a lot of them in my phone. But if you're talking about interesting and possibly adorable facts about Yukinoshita that I never knew about, then sorry too, I have no use for them.

…is what I want to say but I just kept quiet. Seriously, this woman is starting to get annoying. And did I mention she keeps on poking my cheeks?

"What's wrong, Uzumaki-kun?" Older Yukinoshita asks me, whilst poking me at the cheek.

"My birthmarks, they're sensitive." I responded dryly.

But tough luck for me, it just gets worse. "Aww! That's so cute! You're like a real kitty cat!"

"Just because I own a cat…"

"Uzumaki-kun," the younger Yukinoshita says to me in a cold tone. "could you please refrain from talking about your fetishes out in public?"

"Uwahaha! You're so funny, Uzumaki-kun!" this woman's back pats are worse than her pokes.

It seems that her elder sister's cheerful personality feds her up that Yukinoshita suddenly stands, looking mightily annoyed. "May we leave now? If you have nothing to talk about to us then we'd like to leave."

The older Yukinoshita stands up and walks off, but not before saying one last thing, "Uzumaki-kun, when you're dating Yukino-chan for real, let's have a drink together!" then, she waves off, running towards a certain direction like the wind.

The both of us watched the woman's leaving form from where we are, each of us having different thoughts.

"Your sister's amazing ain't she…?" I couldn't help but say.

"Everyone who meets her say the same." That comes out rather disappointedly. "True, her charms and looks are what make people attracted to her, giving her the image of a perfect woman. It's amusing to see people praising her at first, but after five years of watching it being repeated right in front of your face, it gets sickening." I swore I saw her shudder.

I scoffed, earning Yukinoshita's attention. "Hello pot, meet me, kettle… like you can say that. Are you using her to compare yourself? Feh."

"Huh?"

"What I found amazing was not her looks, charm or ability to 'connect' with a guy like me. It's that… how should I put it… ah, it's her porcelain-like mask that she wears wherever she goes. She acts all sociable and always smiling, like some goody two shoes who always starts the conversation first. She's every man's ideal woman."

I shrugged.

"But hey, ideals are ideals, it doesn't mean that all of us have to conform to it or like it. It feels fake."

"…despite your scary blue eyes—no, maybe it's because they're scary that you're able to read a person like that." I can see her smiling.

I scoffed again. "No, it has nothing to do with me being special or anything, if that's what you're thinking. It's, as I've said before, just a skill that has been drilled into my very foundation ever since I was young. My teachers, at an early age of six, have been drilling into me the importance of observation. Observe this, observe that; the way they walk, the way they talk, the slightest hint of hand movement, their posture whilst standing, the number of times they blink during a conversation, the duration of eye contact they'd make when talking… these things are drilled into me, these were my basics, the building blocks, the foundation of my growth; and it sticks with me until today."

"…strange, I do not recall being taught anything like that during grade school or even elementary for that matter…"

I gave her a hollow smile. "Teachers aren't only in school, Yukinoshita." I hunched forward. "Look underneath the underneath, expect the unexpect—BWUUUGH!"

A DOGE OUTTA NOWHERE!

Something small, easily the size of a small animal, collided with the front of my face. I grabbed the thing off my face, feeling its slobber and snot all over it. It's a dog. A hotdog dog. I lifted it up and extended it away from my face using my hands. "A doge, huh?" it seems like it wants to be dropped so I let it go on the ground.

"A-A dog… U-Uzumaki-kun?"

"Huh?"

Hm… this dog… it has a collar, which means that it's not a stray. I've seen this doggy before, but I couldn't seem to recall where and when…

"I'm sorry! My little Sable just ran off and…"

The two of us, along with the puppy, turn to the direction of the worried voice.

Déjà vu… it seems that the Log is trying to tell me something today.

"…eh…? Maki… Yukinon…? Why are you two…?"

Her eyes must've seen the bag that Yukinoshita is carrying and the distance that Yukinoshita closed because of the dog's startling appearance.

We see Yui shaking her head. "No, never mind, it's a holiday a-and you two are out on a d-date, right?"

"Yui, you're misunderstand-" she cut me off.

"Uhm! It's fine, it's fine, I mean, there's no wrong in it, right?" Yui…

She's clearly misunderstanding the situation…

"Yuigahama-san, I assure you, whatever that you're thinking, it's a misunderstanding." Thankfully, Yui's willing to hear to Yukinoshita's reasoning. "However, I would also like to talk to you sometime tomorrow."

It got through her, thank God.

"O-Oh… okay…" but her eyes say otherwise. "Are you sure the two of you aren't dating? Because it sure looks like it right now."

Both Yukinoshita and I blinked several times.

Then we wave our hands at the same time.

"Hell no/Hell no."

"…uwah… you two are so in sync…"

* * *

I have to admit. While living a carefree life of a high school student in Japan is indeed nice as a change of pace from what I usually do, I never thought that I'd get to be so attached to the people that were around me. Yukinoshita, Yui, Hiratsuka-sensei, Totsuka hell even that Hayama… never thought that I would associate more than a few words with them. You see, the thing about this Lone Wanderer life that I've always lived before my life now, it's not bad, but it's not exactly good either.

I have to admit again, even though I'm immortal, I am still human. It's in my existence, blood and nature to want to interact with people no matter how hard I've convinced myself that they're better off without me interfering with their life. When you're me, you don't look at the people around you in the same way ever again. They become air, something that's there but not worth noticing. At the same time, contradicting my relation with them, they're what I need the most.

I've spent years living the life of a wanderer with no real homes, real connection and anything else really. The only thing I have is myself and my memories, even so, the latter is pretty much useless to be applied in my daily life. As an immortal, your perception of time becomes… shorter. Before you knew it, a year has passed. Before you knew it, the people you knew were already dead. Before you knew it, you're already living in a completely different place living a completely different life with a completely different identity with completely different people.

It's… not that easy.

I've stressed out how hard it was for me to accept my immortality, but I did eventually.

To be honest, I don't really know whether it's the best choice or not because saying that I've changed due to my status as an immortal would be an understatement. I became someone new the moment I decided to walk away from my current life. In fact, right here and now, if I were to move on, I could make it look as if I have never existed and enrolled in the school in the first place. It's that easy for me to do. But… I persisted. I don't want to walk away. I try to not walk away. Though there were times when I did, I always reminded myself to not give in so easily.

It's a little bit ironic, don't you think? Someone who's lived long, is not capable of living his life properly even after all those times?

Ha.

Ha…

Hahaha…

Haaah…

"Oi, what're you standing over there looking all nervous for?"

"Kyaa! M-M-Maki! Don't scare me like that!"

I raised my hands whilst trying to stifle my chuckles. "Sorry, you looked so serious I thought I might disturb something if I walked in before you."

I saw Yui sighing rather melancholically. This prompted me to ask. "What's wrong?"

"No…" she sighs again. "It's just that… I must've looked weird for not suddenly attending club, right?"

"Mmmmmaaaybe." She punches my arm. "Ow."

"I'm not kidding, Maki, I'm serious." She pouts.

"Uh huh, you're serious." I grinned. "Well, why don't we come inside and talk this out then?"

I did not wait for her, opting to enter before Yui could even give me an answer. The moment I entered the room, I was not surprised to see Yukinoshita's reaction upon seeing Yui. I took my seat on my usual spot whilst I let the two girls settle things out. But it seems that neither of the two are ready to confront the other, so a briefly eternal silence lingers in the air.

Surprisingly, it is Yukinoshita who breaks the silence.

"Yuigahama-san."

"U-Um… you wanted to tell me something about you and Maki, right?"

"Right." One could easily detect where this conversation was going.

I heard, as I was busy focusing on arranging my manuscript, Yukinoshita walking towards her chair again. "We wanted to tell you about our future—"

Suddenly, the sound of chair screeching and other clanks disrupts my concentration. I briefly looked at what's happening. Yui's standing up, forcing a smile, while Yukinoshita looks confused. "H-Hey, you don't need to mind me at all!" she stutters with her words, much to my – and I'm sure Yukinoshita's – confusion.

"I mean, like, yeah I was surprised at first, but it was because, like, we need to celebrate about it!"

Hm… I'm smelling something here…

"H-How did you know?" for some reason, now Yukinoshita's the one who's stuttering. I briefly glanced at her direction, seeing her fidgeting as if she's nervous and all. "I wanted to celebrate it. Also, I'm very thankful to you, Yuigahama-san."

I may not know what's really happening, but I can sense the sincerity in that last part. Yukinoshita being sincere, hah, almost laughable.

"H-Hey, I never did anything you need to thank me for!" Yui says while rubbing the back of her head sheepishly, an act that I found very familiar for some reason. Then, I caught a flash of sadness, as well as noticed the drop of enthusiasm. "I never did anything…"

"Regardless, I'm still thankful to you. And celebrations like these don't usually happen because the celebrant asks. I simply want to celebrate."

Hey… that smell is getting even stronger now… just… what is it?

"O-Oh."

It feels like they're not talking about the same thing.

Now I'm fully disregarding my work to focus on what's wrong about this whole situation.

"So… um…"

"I might not want to hear anymore."

Ah.

It clicked into me.

It was the smell of misunderstanding.

Sighing, I leaned backwards to rest my back on the chair. "Yuigahama, you're misunderstanding something here."

"Huh/Huh?" that comes from both Yui and Yukinoshita.

Boys and girls are doing their best and are now preparing to explain. Please wait warmly and have some tea. **(4)**

"HEEEEEEEEEEH?! So the two of you are not dating?!"

I would have laughed if I was not so annoyed at the fact that this ditz has forgotten that she asked us the very same question the other day when we were shopping for her gifts.

"Like hell we are." I denied outright.

"Yuigahama-san, my fuse isn't infinitely long." Our esteemed club leader points a finger towards me, rudely. "Besides, in the first place, that man could never handle an interpersonal relationship, let alone a relationship with the opposite sex."

"Uuh… sorry to burst your bubble there but I've had exes, okay?"

"EH?! You've been in a relationship before, Maki?!"

"The fact that you're so surprised about it is what makes my heart hurts." I muttered. "But, yeah, I've dated before. Why is it so surprising?" this was no lie, however, the only legitimate relationship I've ever had was very few because I never really considered on really committing myself into one in the first place.

"Oho? That is indeed surprising… pray tell then why are you still single or devoid of friends up to now?" Yukinoshita is smiling. Though it's small, it's still a smile. And I don't like it when she smiles.

"That's because my middle name is Truth."

"Huh, what does it have to do with you not having a girlfriend now?"

"Because bitches can't handle it."

Epic rekt gone (insert here)!

"You're an ass, Uzumaki-kun/Maki."

I lol'd hard.

After some time, I finally calmed down.

"But in all seriousness, Yui, you've misunderstood us. Yukinoshita and I are not dating and it's not something that will ever happen. I don't plan on pursuing something like a… serious relationship but I can't say that I don't need it either. For now, I'm content with what I have. Me saving your dog… maybe it was more than just chance. Maybe… maybe fate does exist after all." I chuckled. "And I'm glad that I get to meet you and Yukinoshita too."

"What that horrible man said is true, Yuigahama-san." I'm no longer surprised that she can insult someone whilst smiling. "Whatever relationship you thought that he and I have, it's all false. My relationship with him is no different than my relationship with you. Though there are circumstances, being able to meet with people and socialize is a rather nice way to spend time."

"I… I see." Yui still frowns, however. "But what's with this 'I want to talk something serious with you' atmosphere the other day?"

"Oh? That is because of this."

Yui watches Yukinoshita taking out a white box neatly tied with ribbon from her carry bag. "We're supposed to enjoy this before, but I guess there will be a time for us to enjoy this cake later."

"Y-You baked me a cake?"

"I did." I'm not sure why you're surprised, Yui. Unlike you, Yukinoshita can actually bake. "Oh and this too." Yukinoshita pulls out another box from the same bag, this time a more colorful one than the previous box. "Please, open it."

Yui receives the box and does not hesitate on opening it. Her eyes shine like the star on a Christmas tree when she lays her eyes on the prize. "Wow! This is so cute! Thank you so much Yukinon!" she begins hugging Yukinoshita.

"Heh." Can you blame me from enjoying Yukinoshita's suffering from being hugged by Yui? No, no you can't, because I know that you're enjoying this just as much as I am.

"B-But, I'm not the only one with a present, Yuigahama-san." Her eyes dart towards me, as if redirecting Yui's excessive form of 'attention' from her to me.

"Maki?"

I chuckled. "Now what's with those disbelieving eyes? Of course I'd get you one." I pulled out a smaller and much plainer box from my bag and slide it over to Yui's side of the table. "Here, from me."

Yui lets go of Yukinoshita and takes my present, but not opening it yet.

"I may not know what sort of problem that the two of you had. But with this, I hope that we're able to show that things are better when they're confronted with the right timing and place in mind." Yukinoshita says. "I'm going to go outside and check on Hiratsuka-sensei, she ought to have more work for us."

She leaves, leaving both Yui and I here alone in this room. Without my permission, not that she needs one, she opens her present that I gave to her. Yui slowly slips off the ribbons and take the lid off, I heard her gasp when she sees what's inside the box.

I closed my eyes.

I am a man with a very troubling past. A past that is filled with lost, regret and pain. No matter how hard I tried, how many years it's been and how much I've convinced myself that it was all over; I cannot rid myself of the attachment to my old life. My previous life of a shinobi, a life of an entity that walks alongside death, will always be in my mind; permanently and eternally now that I am cursed with the curse of immortality.

I loathed and still loathe the people who ended my race, my people… my friends.

With the mysterious circumstances of my immortality, I can only pin the blame at one person, Kaguya. Kaguya, the Immortal Heavenly Rabbit, the All-Mother, the Progenitor of Chakra… the First, but not the Last. How I loathe her. I hate her, I want to kill her, I want to murder her. I will not hide these true feelings inside of me. Thinking about her alone made me unsettled and frustrated. What she did to my people and possibly me was unforgivable.

What's worse is that… I cannot have my revenge. I cannot deliver my vengeance to her because she's no longer here, she does not exist anymore. And it makes me hate it even more. Much more. I can't even kill or at least try to kill the one who ended my race, my friends, and possibly cursed me. How mad, frustrated and furious do you think I was?

Because of the lack of target,

Because there's no one to blame,

Because I'm helpless…

I have no other choice but to forget. Yes, forget.

…but no matter how hard I try, I can't. I couldn't and I can't!

"Maki… this is… this is…!"

I smiled at the familiar, pure emerald green glow that was hanging off a worn string knotted string.

"Yeah, hope you like it."

"H-How can I not like it?! This is… this is beautiful!" Yui exclaims, gushing over the thing. She suddenly stops, making me blink. She turns to look at me. "Okay be honest with me here, how much does this cost you?"

I blinked. "What and why?"

She looks uneasy, looking at the jade necklace as if she's unsure she's worthy of holding it. "Well… this thing looks expensive. I mean, I've seen expensive jewelry and I'm sure that this belongs to those types."

I laughed, causing her further confusion. "No, no, no. Yui, that thing," I pointed to the necklace. "is worth nothing to me monetarily. To me, it's just a shiny green stone tied to a string that you wear around your neck." I said. "But to the people that have worn it before, that thing is both a blessing and a curse, a sign of fortune and luck, and an omen to good and evil."

"What do you mean?" she asks me.

I was about to open my mouth to answer her, but I quickly shut it again. "Nothing, it means… nothing." I paused. "But it would mean so much to me if you're to have it."

Yui stares at the jeweled necklace then, she smiles. Without hesitation, or even doubt, she quickly fixes the thing around the neck even faster than I would do it myself. "Then this is priceless to me!"

"Oh, why?"

"Because you gave it to me!"

…call me speechless, because I am.

For the first time in so long, I was touched. Yui's blunt honesty, the way she was so abrupt in saying it… it struck a chord in my heart. I could not, no matter how hard I tried to hide it, hide the smile that's slowly forming on my face. I found myself chuckling, wiping a hidden tear that had just begun to well in my eye.

"Cheeky girl."

"Hm? I don't get it but, thank you, Maki!" she smiles at me, her smile easily rivaling the stars.

For a moment, I saw a mirror in front of me. A mirror that reflects a very familiar face. I couldn't help it.

I just smiled.

"Yeah, anytime." I picked up my things, packed them inside my bag and moved for the door. "Wanna go and check on Yukinoshita? Why don't the three of us go and grab something to eat on our way home? My treat, since it's your birthday."

Yui's eyes shine like stars. "Really?! Then Baskin Robbins!"

"Haha, only three scoops Yui, only three scoops."

"Alright! But two servings of them!"

"Yeah, sure."

That day… I went home with a very satisfied feeling in my chest.

* * *

 **I'm very sorry for not updating in such a long time. I have been very busy with real life, but I know that it's not a very good reason for me to use when I should not be lenient in my update in the first place. Regardless of that, I hope that you guys and girls enjoyed this chapter and find this story to be worthy of your time. I can't say that I'll be faithful to my old update schedule (though it was not a schedule, really, just me updating one chapter not more than two weeks per chapter) so please forgive me in advance.**

 **1: Damn Daniel**

 **2: I really tried**

 **3: Chowder from Cartoon Network**

 **4: Associated with the once-famed Touhou Project franchise. Their loading screens would have a line saying** _ **'Girls do their best and are preparing. Please wait warmly until it is ready.'**_


	7. Who's ready for some field trippin?

**Some of you may feel annoyed that things are going exactly the way it does in the anime when I already guaranteed that there will be differences in the story. Well, the thing is, things will be different; but it'll need a major build up. I'm making the story flow with canon for a reason and though you will see the exact same scenes or happenings from the anime, I assure you that the differences and changes will be identifiable.**

 **So please be a little bit patient.**

* * *

"No, no no! GAH! YOU FUCKING CAMPER! I'MMA FIND YOU BOY! I'MMA FIND YOU AND I'MMA HANG YOUR PANSY ASSED CORPSE IN YOUR MOTHER'S DRESSER!"

" _HAHA! You mad bro?!"_

…Forgive my vocal outburst but when it comes to competitive multiplayer first person shooters, I'm a very sore loser.

I slammed down the controller of my PS4, before shutting the console off.

I'm mighty pissed right now… mighty. I don't always start my morning like this… playing videogames, rage quitting because some fucking twelve year old camper in CoD and ending up in one of the shittiest mood I ever felt… no, today's a very different day for me. Both literally and figuratively.

For starters, it's the middle of summer vacation. School's out and I don't have to sleep through boring classes for the rest of the month. Of course, this doesn't mean that I'm completely left with nothing else to do; I have a life, you see, one whole eternity in fact. But… I'm kind'a out of ideas as to what to do. I've pretty much done everything ever since the start of summer break.

I finished my manuscript, thank god that thing took forever to write, and it's just a matter of time until Tanaka-san comes to pick it up.

I took a jog earlier this morning at around… five a.m or so. You can never skip leg day.

I did my old, though not as extreme, shinobi workout routine which consisted of 100 sets of push-ups, squats, sit ups and ten kilometer more running every single day. I'm surprised I'm not bald yet, to be honest. **(1)**

There was also this one time last week when I didn't sleep at all.

So, yeah, summer break's been **great** for me.

Oh, of course, Komachi stops by from time to time.

"Damn, if this continues anymore then I'll seriously go bald…" I muttered, slapping myself on the face. Turning off the TV, I retreated to the kitchen to make myself breakfast. This is pretty much my routine ever since the start of summer break and there seems to be nothing that can change it.

"Hm?" while I was trying to reach for the meat I kept further inside the fridge, my phone – which was in my pants' pocket – buzzed. I looked at the screen and nearly drop the beef that I was holding. "The hell?! A hundred unread message?!"

Frantically, I swept the screen to the side to view the messages.

As I read, I now understood why Hiratsuka-sensei is still single. Sighing, I pocketed the phone back inside my pocket. Basically, she wants me to call her but I'm not gonna do that just yet. I'm hungry and maybe, maybe, I'll do it after breakfast.

…

"Eh… I better turn off my phone."

For safety reasons.

Well, now that I've turned off my phone, I proceed to cooking. Today's dish will be a very basic beef and vegetables stir fry. It seems like a huge meal for breakfast, but I've always been a big eater. Turning on the stove, I drizzled vegetable oil into the pan, no need for tedious measurements; I'm not a fucking chef. While waiting for the pan to get hot, I retrieved a jar filled with sliced vegetables that I always have to make things easier when cooking. Hearing the sizzling of oil beckoned me to return and once I'm back, I dumped a fistful of mixed vegies into the pan.

"Ah, never thought I'd see the day when vegetables look delicious."

Several pinches of salt, a shake of coarse black pepper and a drizzle of sesame oil; all that's left is to put the beef. Slicing the beef into bite-sized pieces, I then dumped them into the hot pan; letting them cook. I like my beef red, so I'll let them cook a minute or two less than the normal time it takes to cook them. I make sure to stir the food with a heavy duty wooden spatula, hey, it wouldn't be called stir fry if you're not stirring.

And no, shaking is **not** stirring.

"Itadakimasu."

All seated, rice steaming warm and my stir fry's ready for me to devour. I dig the spoon into the stir fry, bringing the food to my mou-

"HERE'S KOMACHI!"

I slammed the spoon down, making a mess of my meal.

"GODAMMIT KOMACHI THAT'S THE THIRD TIME THIS WEEK!" I screamed to my (un)related sister who's standing under my doorframe. "Only one person on earth is allowed to do that! And it's Jack Nicholson, and are you Jack Nicholson, Komachi? No! No you're not! And you should feel bad for doing that!"

Komachi giggles as if she's done something completely normal. "Maa, maa, chill down Onii-chan, I'm here for something real this time." Her nose catches a delicious smelling scent. "Oh! You're eating breakfast? Uwaah it's stir fry! Can I eat?! Can I? Can I?"

I sighed. "Just sit down and wait while I go grab you a bowl of rice."

"Thankies Onii-chan!"

I can never get mad if she smiles like that, god, what have I become? I beat demi-gods and overpowered pink eyed goth princes like it's Monday, but I can't defy this little girl who's not even my little sister. Man… Sasuke's probably rolling wherever he's at right now…

"Here." I placed the bowl of fresh steamy rice in front of Komachi, as well as an empty plate.

"Ittadakimasu!"

I munch on my food at a comfortable pace, but I feel the need to question Komachi now. "What are you doing here Komachi?"

"Whuf dooh ywou mhean Onii-chawn?" Ah… she looks so adorable speaking with her mouthful of rice.

"Don't talk when you're chewing." She gulps down her food.

"What do you mean? It's still summer break, it's totally fine if I'm here, right?"

I snorted. "I know that's fine and all but what's that bag for, huh?" I pointed a finger at the luggage Komachi's placed on the floor. "You're not going to invite your friends here saying that your mom rented out the place specifically for you and have another pajama party are you?"

"What, no!" she denies, slamming her chopsticks to the table. "Well, I was going to do that, but no!"

"So you were going to do that!"

"No, but really Onii-chan, I'm not here for that." I noticed, in a blink of an eye, the sudden change in mood that suddenly erupts in my apartment. "I… I want to talk to you about something."

"About what?"

If it really concerns her, then there's really no need beating around the bush.

I saw her pursing her lips, her eyes flicker with hesitation and the biting of her tongue is enough for me to know that she's nervous.

"Well, there's this guy."

" _ **What?"**_

* * *

"Uh… Uzumaki-kun, why are you… carrying around that spiked baseball bat? And why are you wearing a hockey mask?"

"…before you say anything again, I can tell you that I know that today's not Halloween, the bat's real and so are the power tools in my bag."

Yui and Yukinoshita retreat back away from me at the exact same time.

"But can you blame me?" I pointed a thumb to the girl's who's grinning like a Cheshire cat next to me. "She said that some punk ass kid's giving her the hots, you can't blame me for exercising my right as an older brother and go over to his house to threaten him with a very painful death now can you?"

Yui raises a finger. "But… you're not even her real brother…"

"Psh! Details!" I threw my arms in the air, still holding my bat. "Anyway," I took off my hockey mask, giving it to Komachi. "what're you guys doing here?"

"…you lost Yukinon, pay up."

"Haah… it's foolish of me to believe that I'll win a bet when there's Uzumaki-kun involved."

I watched the suspicious exchange of money with a mild squint. "Hey, hey, are you two having a bet about me?"

"Yeah, doing bets isn't good you know, Yui-san, Yukinoshita-san." Komachi pipes in.

"Why am I not included?!"

"That's what you're worried about Onii-chan?!"

In the midst of our bickering, a red SUV, a land rover or something, I don't know, pulls up on the curb near us. Our attention on each other is disrupted by the opening of the car's door. The driver walks around from the front and it took us five seconds to realize who the person is.

"Hiratsuka-sensei?" I said slowly. "Why do you look like someone who's ready to go on a field trip?"

Hiratsuka-sensei's all geared up in a polo shirt, a cap, a pair of shades, short cargo pants, boots and even a towel tucked into one of the short's pockets.

"That's because what we're about to do is more or less a field trip." She removes her shades, letting it dangle on her collar. "Anyway, Uzumaki, why didn't you reply to my messages?"

Urk! "Uh… I was up late, yeah, that's why…" I know she knows that I lied to her, if her glare's enough of a clue.

"Fine then, it took me a lot of effort to get to your sister." She tells me.

My head snapped towards Komachi. "You?! You set me up for this?!"

"Ehehe! She says that she'll recommend me to your high school, Onii-chan!"

I glared at Hiratsuka-sensei. "How dare you use my (un)related little sister against me?! That's cheating! Manipulator! Trickster! You shitty old la-BWUUUUUGH!"

…give me a few minutes to recover…

Okay, I'm back up.

"Kukuku… you sure know how to open your mouth, eh, Uzumaki?" Hiratsuka-sensei's raising the fist that she just used to hit me with.

While I try to ignore the, not so painful but still tingling, damage that was done to me, Yui steps forward. "Are you okay, Maki?"

"'m fine." I mumbled, letting her help me stand on my feet. "But what's the big deal anyway?"

Hiratsuka-sensei sighs. "I'll tell you about it on the way, we just have to wait for one more person."

"One more person… who?"

From the distance, I can hear the voice of an angel calling out my name.

"Naruto!"

I had to make sure I was not dreaming, because it's a very beautiful voice.

"Naruto!"

I turned my head to see Saika running towards us, carrying a duffle bag and dressed in clothing that definitely suits him.

"…now, are you interested in joining us, Onii-chan?" Komachi tiptoes so that she can whisper these words into my ears.

"…I admit nothing… nothing." I can only look down, ashamed. I can't go against this girl, she holds my weakness.

Komachi waves hello at the approaching Saika. "Totsuka-san, Yahallo!"

What's with that, is it a fad or something?

"Yeah, Yahallo!" Saika returns with a smile.

Oh my God, that was cute. Can we make this fad even bigger?

"Now that everyone's here, let's get inside!"

* * *

"We're goin' on a trip in our favorite-"

"SHUT UP UZUMAKI!"

"HEY! YOU'RE THE ONE WHO FORCED MY SISTER INTO TRICKING ME INTO THIS SO CALLED FIELD TRIP OF YOURS! YOU DON'T HAVE THE RIGHTS TO SHUT ME UP FROM SINGING WHATEVER SONGS I WANT!"

As you can see, we're already having a good time in the car.

Yukinoshita has long abandoned reality, putting on a set of earphones so that she could tune out her surroundings. Yui's too occupied with the sceneries, constantly taking pictures of the sky, the highway, the sky, street signs, highway and oh, did I mention the sky? Komachi's happily sleeping in between the two of them, undisturbed from my singing and the earlier shouting.

Am I mad that I am, somehow, tricked into this situation I'm in? No, no I'm not. Disappointed? No. Sad? Nu uh. In fact, I'm mildly interested at how this whole thing will turn out. Admittedly, I'm still bummed that I won't get to exact revenge on that camper, but at least I'll be doing something different for summer break.

"So, where are we going exactly, Hiratsuka-sensei?"

"We're going to a small recreational village called Chiba Mura." She says, while keeping her eyes on the road.

"Chiba Mura?" now why is that name familiar to me…? "Meh, wake me up when we're there." I yawned.

"Finally, some peace and quiet."

"Oh I'm sorry, do you want me to sing again, Hiratsuka-sensei?"

"If you dare to sing again, I'll throw you out of this car."

She wouldn't da-

 **GLARE**

Okay, so she would dare.

I closed my eyes, letting my consciousness drift to zzz-land.

And before I knew it, we've already arrived.

Wow, such transition, much creativity.

So we're at this recreational site just on the outskirts of town. It's the kind of place that family would go during summer break and enjoy the rest of the week without having to deal with the bustling and monotonous city life. I'd say that this is quite the nice place, I mean, we're camping right? Looking around, I can see why people would spend their summer break here. Aside from the obvious fact that it's close to the city, it has a variety of facilities to offer.

There're campsites for camping, duh, a lake that you can go and take a swim in, lots of forest paths that you can take a nice evening walk in and they even provide barbecue. I stretched my hands, sleeping in a car will do this to me, while stifling another yawn. I felt somebody nudging me on the side, looking down I saw Komachi grinning at me.

"Hehehe, this place sounds familiar to you, Onii-chan?" she asks me.

I blinked. "Now that you say, it does sound familiar." I'm having mixed feelings here, what Komachi knows that I don't?

"Well, from what I've heard, the middle school that you attended visited this place before. That's why I was hoping that you'd know about this place, turns out you don't."

Ah, now that she mentions it, I remembered skipping out on a supposedly important week during middle school. So they went here, huh? "Huh, well that's nice to know." I dropped the topic, opting for a better one to talk about. "You brought everything with you?"

"Yup!" she exclaims, making a popping sound with the last 'p'. "I have everything. Clothes, food, hygiene kit, first aid kit, money, more food, underwear, mangas, my phone's charger… everything!" she's listing out all of the items whilst extending a finger. "What about you, Onii-chan?"

"I don't know, it's not like you told me that we're camping in the first place…" I muttered bitterly. "But I got the useful ones."

"And what are those? Ramen?"

"Hey." I glared. "It's **instant** ramen, don't get them mixed up. Instant ramen are not real ramen."

Now don't you be rolling them eyes at me! "Yeah, yeah, Onii-chan. Ah, by the way, Onii-chan?" she tiptoes, so that she can align her lips on my left ear. "So… are you and Yui-san an item?"

I furrowed my eyebrows. Now what is this kid talking about. "You mean like dating?" I blurted out the words, but only between the both of us. "No, from what I last checked, Yui and I aren't dating. Therefore, we are not an 'item'." I scoffed. "And it doesn't look like I'm her type of guy anyway."

"Oh, what makes you say that?"

I shrugged. "Jus' saying that there're better guys out there with better attitudes than mine."

I mean, if I have to be honest; while I do enjoy Yui's cheerfulness and exuberant attitude, there's really no telling if she feels the same way about mine. I can go all day listing out all the things that I find likable about her, but considering with how I've been acting around her – joking or not – I don't think I'm advancing in anything other than being a total jackass.

"Geez, Onii-chan, you're like those guys who always say 'she's too good for me, she's better off without me' or something like that." The way she changes her tone and gesture while demonstrating how those type of guys speak is very cute to watch.

And it seems that my answer has dissatisfied her greatly, looking at the frown she's making.

"When I first met you Onii-chan, I thought you're one of those ikemen **(2)** who always switch girls like boys switch their briefs. Looks like you're more of an herbivore than a carnivore."

"Hey, in my defense, I didn't say that she's too good for me nor did I say that she's better off without me." I smoothly counter Komachi's claims about me. "I said that there're guys out there with better attitudes than mine. And when you first met me, you accused me for having an affair with your mom, see how that went."

The both of us chuckled at our inside joke.

"But… really, though, Onii-chan. When will you find a girlfriend?"

I slowly turned my head to face her, a grim expression evident on my face. "Since when has my relationship status been a major concern for you?" and how did this turn out to be this kind'a talk anyway?

"Since, I don't know, forever?" wow, much obvious, such sarcasm. "The girls in my class keep on bragging how they each have boyfriends or a very awesome older sibling."

"So, you're saying that I'm not awesome?"

"No, you are awesome," I smiled. "but it'd be **more** awesome if you have a girlfriend." My smile dropped. She lets out a mock sigh, shaking her head for effect. "Haaah… looks like there's no hope for my hopeless—from—birth Onii-chan." Then she hugs me. "Looks like Komachi have to be your girlfriend after all, teehee!"

"Ha ha ha." I did my best Squidward impersonation. "That's not funny Komachi." No, it really isn't. "No one's laughing about it."

"Oh, but Yukinoshita-san over there is, though."

My eyes snapped towards where Komachi's finger is pointing. My esteemed club president is currently preventing herself from falling by resting her hand to support her body. She's using her other hand to stop the laughter that's threatening to burst out of her mouth and she's stomping her legs to alleviate the stress of holding in her laughter.

"...MPF!... Having… ppft… your little sister become your girlfriend… because you can't find any… pfft!"

"Screw you too."

I graciously flipped her the bird.

The distant sound of car engine grabs our attention and from the distance, we see a white family van approaching before stopping to park next to the red SUV. The door slides open, and the moment I saw who it was, I lost an ounce of my enthusiasm.

"Hey look, it's Hayama and the Hooligans."

"Pft…!" Yukinoshita stops laughing. "…that actually sounds like a legitimate band name…"

Hayama approaches us, awkwardly laughing while his posse of peeps trailing a few steps behind him. Let's see if all of 'em's here.

Hayama himself, check.

Miss crank and skank, check.

Glasses girl, check.

To… To… Toto? Or whatever his name is, check.

"Huh, where're the other two side characters?" I asked, casually while wiggling my eyebrows.

"That's mean Onii-chan!"

Hayama chuckles. "If you mean Yamato and Oka, they're away on personal reasons. It's summer break after all." He explains.

I scoffed. "Lucky them. They get to enjoy the rest of their summer break at some five starred hotel" I could do that too, actually. "somewhere while we're stuck here playing Nanny Mcphee with a bunch of elementary school kids." I placed my left hand akimbo, imitating the posture of an overworked farmer. "Haah… kids these days, man…"

"That doesn't sound like something someone from the volunteer club would say." Hayama mutters awkwardly.

"Well, it's something that **I'd** say." Deal with it.

Hayama laughs at my answer and by then, he must have noticed Komachi who's standing next to me. Normally, I'd go all overprotective-Onii-chan-mode here but since she's gonna end up talking to the rest of us, I might as well introduce her.

"This's Komachi, she's my (un)related little sister." I introduced her.

"Hi!" Komachi waves at Hayama with a large smile on her face. "You look so cool, Hayama-san!"

"Ahaha. Thanks." Hayama's face morphs from a smile to that of confusion. "Wait, unrelated little sister? Are you two…"

Before he could finish his assumption, I provided him with the answer. "It's exactly as it sounds. We're not related, not even step siblings. But you know what they all say, if she's willing, she's up for the picki-OW!"

She hit me! My own, unrelated, little sister just hit me!

"That saying sounds so wrong Onii-chan! And no one said that in the first place!"

"Uh, I just did, though? Blam, mind blown." Whup, poof! "It's just a joke, sis."

Oh and by the way, I forgot to mention. While I'm here chatting with Hayama, I've forgotten and left all the unloading to the ladies. Now normally, you'd call me a jackass for letting the ladies do all the work. But there's this fickle thing known as equality, yeah, and what I'm doing and not doing right now is basically me supporting that concept. From where we're standing, we hear the voice of a man calling for us to gather right in front of the reception cabin. The kids began to gather, flock more like, to the site.

After eavesdropping on a conversation between Hiratsuka-sensei and the committee head, it turns out that he's the principal of the elementary school. Instead of teachers, we'll be the ones taking care of the kids. There'll be an orienteering session after the announcement and our job starts there.

I have mixed feelings about this whole thing, I really do. While it's a nice change on the way I spend my summer break, I really don't think that our roster mix well. Believe it or not, hint the sarcasm, I'm perfectly capable of detecting the hostility between Yukinoshita and Hayama. Well, it mostly comes from Yukinoshita, but that basically warrants the same thing; things are going to get heated, innuendos aside, later on when we have to think and work together.

I'm no stranger to working with people who doesn't share the same mindset as me, hell, my whole life consisted of people with different views from mine. I can deal with those kind'a things fine, but these kids – my classmates – will behave differently.

This secret hostility that Hayama and Yukinoshita are having won't do any good, but I trust that the both of them will make decisions only when their heads are cool. At least we can cross out the chances of a straight out verbal fight happening between these two.

The next thing I'm worried about is me myself. Yeah, this time, I'm putting myself as a liability.

I'm not sure if I can enjoy this as much as I want myself to. Why do I sound so concerned about myself? Well, I didn't bring my laptop with me, for once. My manuscript's finished, I finished it just two days ago and it's currently under the responsibility of the editing department back at office. But there's really no telling when they want me to re-write an entire scene, chapter, maybe the entire book even. If, let's say, if they call me and want me to re-write something, then that means I'm gonna have to go back home and do as they say. That sucks, because why? I'm in no position to use chakra as excessively as I used to. A long ranged sunshin will cost me less than a quarter of my chakra and though that doesn't sound bad, I can't exactly replenish chakra properly anymore. Does that sound bad now?

And… there's also a matter of my own role as a counselor.

I'm not sure if I'm fit to be a good role model for these kids, though I doubt that I'll get attached to any of them, I feel the need to discuss about this anyway. If I do try to get to know at least one of them, I'm not sure if I'm fit to be seen as one of the guys who represent the school. Good thing we have Hayama over here to play poster boy for us.

It's already later in the morning and they've just finished the opening speech. We, high school students and Komachi included, are standing in front of the kids who are seated on the empty clearing, and I can feel their eyes observing us. Judging us. Mocking us…

No, I'm totally not overreacting here.

I saw the speaker, the elementary school's principal himself, walking towards our direction.

"Now, the big brothers and sisters you see in front will be your counselors! So please get along with them!"

Then the bloke shoves the mic right at my direction. Clueless, I blinked for several times, even Yukinoshita and Yui's as shocked as I am. I looked at Hiratsuka-sensei and I can see her doubling over with restrained laughing much like Yukinoshita before.

"You…damn vixen…" I made sure to have my mouth away from the mic when I said that. Turning and giving the kids my undivided attention, I opened my mouth. "Eh… mic test, baka test, check one two three…"

I coughed and took a deep breath.

"Kids, happy hunger games and may the odds be ever in your favor!"

I got a tent kit thrown at me from Hiratsuka-sensei seconds later afterwards.

* * *

"You know, those who've watched that movie must've felt terrified, Onii-chan…"

Thankfully, I managed to live with only a bump on my face. It's only a bump, so they only had to patch me up with bandages. Now we're doing the orienteering, walking up the forest path to reach our destination. It has been an hour ever since the opening gathering and the members of the Service Club are currently walking together with Hayama and his clique in one group. Oh, and Komachi's scolding me after what I've done earlier.

"Puh-lease." I pulled that straight out of Mean Girls. "The only thing's terrifying about that movie is their third installment. Both part one **and** two." I deadpanned. "I just couldn't believe that she'd throw a tent at my face… she was laughing at me earlier too…"

"Haaah…" my cute younger sister, unrelated, sighs. "You just have to do something stupid, didn't you, Onii-chan? Just deal with it, Onii-chan. You're embarrassing me..."

"Oh…"

…somehow, that last part got me.

My world did not survive long enough for me to have a family. In fact, now that I'm thinking about it, have I ever considered on settling down in the first place, before getting cursed by Kaguya I mean. I was too immersed in the war back then. Everything and everywhere was… FUBAR. All I did was fight, fight, fight, fight and fight. Obito's and Madara's army of resurrected zombie ninjas was only the beginning, and even that took more than half of our forces. By the time Kaguya entered the fray, things went from worst to… pure chaos all over. That woman… it took us everything we had to even delay her relentless attacking. Most of my friends died trying to stop her. And it's still unclear whether or not she's truly dead, but I'm hoping that she is.

I… used to think about settling down. After I've discovered that I'm immortal, I even considered on doing it. But… just the thought of outliving my wife, kids, grandkids is just… pure horror.

Will I have to feel that kind of feeling when Komachi is older?

Without knowing why, and out of the blue, I paused my walk so that the group could walk before me. I purposely lagged a few steps behind, before eventually catching up to embrace Komachi from the back.

"O-Onii-chan!?"

I just buried my face into her hair, the both of us stopping unknown to the group.

"What are you doing, Onii-chan?" Komachi whines. "You're embarrassing me here…" she hisses like a frustrated but cute kitten.

"Mmh… let your brother do this for a while…"

"Eeh…?~ why? If Yui-san and the others turn around, it'd be embarrassing."

"Please. Komachi."

She must have sensed the hollowness in my voice, because she flinches the moment the words come out of my mouth. After exactly three seconds, I let her go, flashing her a smile. "Thanks, Komachi. Now let's go before they leave us. Oi Yukinoshita, you bitch, I can see you hurrying up over there!"

"…geez… Onii-chan. You're older than me but it feels like you're the younger one." Komachi sighs. "Maybe that's why I love you."

So we manage to catch up with the group and it seems that they do not notice that Komachi and I stopped earlier.

"Should I worry about you stopping anyone else like that, Uzumaki-kun?"

Well, almost everyone.

Just as I'm lagging a few steps behind my group, Yukinoshita is walking at the same pace as I am. Of course, we go unnoticed by the group. Except probably Komachi, but in any case, it's safe to say that we're having our conversation between the two of us only at the moment. What the hell was I doing? Now she's going to go all Spanish Inquisition on my ass, well, not really like them but she'll try to get a couple of beans out of my can.

"Well, I'm not stopping anyone else now but it seems that you've taken the initiative yourself." I've got to give myself at least two points for saying that with sass.

"Initiative? Huh, looks like you know your vocabulary after all." Damn you and your sick humor, Yukinoshita. "But it's not initiative, it's a… compelling urge." I looked at her weirdly, she notices my look. "Yes, an urge. Believe it or not. I do not why I felt the urge to speak to you in the first place, Uzumaki-kun, but if it has something to do with anything; I blame it on this trip."

"Hiratsuka-sensei conned you into this?"

"No." she shakes her head. "I agreed to this, since this is also a part of my obligation."

Ah, there it is. Obligation… such a petty word when used in this context.

"…is it really obligation, or is it just you being one competitive girl?"

She gives me one of her rare smiles. "Maybe a bit of both, you'll never know."

I guess I never will.

After spending time with her, I figured out what are the things that drive Yukinoshita Yukino. One of them is none other than pride. She is a proud person; that much is obvious, even Yui probably knows about this. She always tries her best no matter what the situation is, even if it is as unreasonable as trying to change a person like me. It feels as if she has this… standard to keep, to maintain; and the last thing she wants to do is lowering the banner. Another one is her own unique, and somehow charming, stubbornness. Take it from someone who's known to be the most stubborn person amongst his peers; Yukinoshita can be stubborn whenever she wants to.

"But what's truly surprising is you being here, Uzumaki-kun." She says, suddenly starting up conversation. "While I know that you're here because Hiratsuka-sensei conned you, I'm more surprised that you're actually showing interest in participating."

"Hey, wait a minute, I've been very participative in our previous club activities too!"

"But this is a whole different case, is it not? You don't have anything to do with this, and the reach of the Service Club's responsibility does not extend as far as the elementary school that these kids are attending. Makes me wonder what's driving you into being here, really."

Aside from the fact that my, unrelated, little sister will be getting a recommendation to attend the same school as I do, nothing else. But… she's sharp.

"I don't know." I said. "Maybe a bit of competitiveness and obligation." I winked.

"…touché…"

But… "But maybe you're right, Yukinoshita." she twitches, reacting. "Maybe I have nothing to do with this whole field trip charade, but hey, so do you. Just as you've said, the Service Club has nothing to do with this but I guess the reason we're all here is because it has something to do with you being you."

Her smirk drops.

"…something to do with me… being me?"

I blinked. "Yeah, you're stubborn in your own mysterious and, god damn me for saying it, charming way." I did not hesitate to voice out what I had thought earlier. "Maybe this camp is your way of catching up to me, since you've been missing all of those points from the services we've been doing."

Her eye twitches. "Oho? Are you implying that I did nothing at all during our previous club activities?"

"Oh no, my dear. I'm saying that I did a **better** job at doing our **job** than **you** will ever do."

"Ufufufu… it seems that your ego has gotten the best of you again, Uzumaki-kun. Be careful, you'll hit a tree branch if you raise your head that high."

Meanwhile, a couple of feet away, a group of high school students and a middle school student are currently overhearing their conversation with their respective opinions. But they all can agree,

' _Those two sound like old married couple.'_

There can only be hell afterwards.

Oh, and on a completely unrelated note, I got bitten by a snake afterwards because I was too careless and stepped into a snake pit.

* * *

"Ow, ow, ow, ow!"

"Stop being a baby Maki and stay still, I can't apply the disinfectant if you move around too much!" Yui whines. Hey! Don't blame me, snake bites hurt!

And don't give me that look, Hayama! "Ahaha… thank goodness that it was just a milk snake though. It wasn't poisonous." His expression stiffens. "What's amazing is that you didn't even notice you were bitten until we reached the river. Was the snake stuck in your shoes or something?"

"Probably." Damn, I hate snakes… I hate all kinds of snakes, no matter if they're small, big, a pedophilic legend or a buxom proctor lady; I hate all snakes. "Anyway, can you be gentler Yui? You're hurting my beautiful foot!"

"Aw shaddup!"

"OW!"

I can't believe she just slapped the bite wound!

"Oh, that actually stopped the bleeding. There!" she wrapped bandages around my leg, I was bitten around the ankle. "Next time, please scream when you're bitten by a snake Maki, that way we can treat the wound faster…"

"But he was screaming, no?" Hayama comments. "He was rolling around, even tried to dunk himself in the river hoping that it'll get rid of the snake."

"Yeah, yeah thanks for the concern you guys, I can totally feel it." I snapped my head towards the girl who's hitting a nearby in an attempt to contain her laughter. "AND YOU! LAUGHING OR PUNCHING, DECIDE ON ONE OF 'EM GODDAMIT!"

Yukinoshita is having a lot of fun today, out of my misery.

"Uh… are you sure you're okay, Onii-chan?" Komachi totters over to me, who's sitting underneath a tree while the kids are enjoying themselves playing by the river. "It's not… infected, is it?"

Instead of me, Yui answers. "He's fine Komachi-chan. I put lots of disinfectant on his wound earlier!"

"Uh, you also slap-OWOWOWOWOW!"

"Ahahah? What was that Maki?" You're gripping my leg! You're gripping my leg! "I need to apply pressure to the wound, see?"

Komachi! Can't you see your dearest Onii-chan is in pain?!

"Oh, if you say so, Yui-san!"

…great, everyone's ignoring me today. Best day of my life right now.

After letting go of my leg, Yui returns the disinfectant, remaining roll of bandage and scissors back into the first aid kit. I can't believe she brought that thing all the way from home, what's next, an ambulance?

"Hayato~! Come over here, I need to show you something!"

Over the distance, we can see Yumiko – the girl with the blonde dyed hair – calling over Hayama while she's accompanied with her glasses wearing friend.

"Coming Yumiko!" Hayama, dude, what are you even doing here in the first place anyway? "See you later, Uzumaki, Yuigahama-san."

"Meh." I rolled my eyes, dismissing his dismissal.

"Never thought that someone would really get bitten by a snake, especially when that someone's you, Maki." Yui says, looking calm now. When I found out that a snake's been biting my leg, she was the first one to scream for help and then she pulled out that first aid kid from her bag.

"Anything can happen when we're in the woods, Yui." I grumbled. "But it's not my first time bitten by a snake." Technically, I was swallowed whole once by a huge ass snake, but details. "Anyway, why are we stopping by the river? It's afternoon already, when are we going to get some grub? And what will we eat?"

Yui adopts a thoughtful look, using her index finger to touch her chin. "Hmm… they said that we're going to eat as soon as we reach the next checkpoint, which isn't far. And as for what we're gonna eat… I think it's obvious." She has this deadpanned look on her face.

"Gee, thanks for being so helpful, Yui." She glares at me. "No, seriously, what are we gonna eat? You're saying it as if I'm supposed to know what we're having for grub later." Is this one of those common sense that I haven't learned about?

She sighs, giving me an honest look of disappointment. "It's very likely that we're going to have curry for dinner… don't you ever had curry during fieldtrips before, Maki?"

"No."

"O-Oh… why?"

"I did not attend my middle school's field trip. I skipped it. I told you that I wasn't particularly liked at one point in middle school… that's one of the reasons why I ditched the trip."

"Aw, that's too bad. It could've been fun."

I scoffed. "Sharing a tent with a group of kids that hate you is fun? Wow, Yui, you're so innocent."

"H-Hey! That's not what I was implying!" she bursts, denying my claim. "I meant that the trip itself could've been fun. And even if people hated you, you could have found ways in order to have fun by yourself."

"Hm… you're right." I'm a loner after all. Being alone is like breathing to me, so, I should've been able to have 'fun', right? "But who cares about it now anyways?" I leaned back, resting my head on the tree behind me. "I'm here now in a field trip of my own. Despite being grouped together with a group of people that I have no interest in getting along with and getting bit by a snake, it isn't as bad as that trip could've turned out to be."

For some reason, Yui smiles. "Right? It's nice that we get to go out like this, spending time together… o-only if we could do this just the both of us though…"

"What was that?" sorry, I missed that.

"N-No! Nothing!" she jumps to her feet. "A-Anyway, I'll be with Yukinon now. I'll come fetch you when we're about to leave."

"Sure."

Underneath the shade of this tree, I've remembered how fast things could change. You're that lonely kid who sits at the corner of the class and the next thing you knew, you're spending your summer with your fellow club members and a couple of other guys. It would've been better if you weren't bit by a snake, though.

I chuckled.

Being here right now is strangely… nostalgic. I remembered those quiet times back in the day when everyone's just… happy. We'd all sit down on the grass, arguing over who's the best while Kakashi-sensei's reading his book next to us. Those were the good ol' days. Happiness come and goes. It's not… permanent, transient or even eternal. But there are glimpses of happiness now that I remember carefully.

I used to think that I was so blessed having friends who could finally accept me for who I was.

But, they were all taken away from me.

Then, one day, I'm here; feeling glimpses of that happy moment.

To be able to feel happiness in times to sadness, truly, that is happiness.

* * *

"Alright, gather up kids, we're going to make curry for dinner!"

Looks like Yui was right after all.

We've finally arrived at the final checkpoint, the place where we'll have our dinner. The little lads and lasses are currently gathered in the cooking area where Hiratsuka-sensei's giving out orders. The committee members for this field trip provided us with the ingredients as well as utensils that we'll use to cook food and since there are a lot of us here, the amount they brought is plenty. I'm actually excited to cook, I'm not going to lie. I've wanted to experiment around with curry, since it's been a long time ever since I've eaten real curry.

When I said real curry, I meant the one that will even legitimately revive the dead.

"Well now that we're all here, let's divide the task!" Hiratsuka-sensei is acting all adult-like, like, really for reals. "The boys will be here and getting the fires ready while you, girls, get the ingredients and start cooking as soon as the boys are done!"

Uwaah… look at this responsible adult, she's splitting up the boys and girls just because she doesn't want them to be together. So sad.

"OU!" The kiddies cheer, doing as they are instructed to do.

"Haah… this's the good things about kids," wow, that's a rather scary look you have on your face, sensei. "they're so easy to use. Keh."

"Wow, now I know why you become a teacher." I said distastefully, all the while shaking my head. "But I can't deny that ordering these kids around doesn't make you feel superior." Yes, I had the exact same look on Hiratsuka-sensei's face when Konohamaru and his friends were under my so called 'command'.

"That just makes you as bad, Maki!"

Komachi, Yui and Yukinoshita are helping along with bringing the ingredients. They placed whatever they're carrying on an empty cooking station nearby. Komachi is giggling, Yukinoshita is looking as blank as ever and Yui's glaring at me.

"Psh! That's what adults do, right? Get paid for work, be bad examples and lording over kids?" I asked, as if those're the most normal of things. "Now before you shout at me again, let me get this clear: I don't care." Crossing my arms, I raised my nose high.

"Uwaah… now he's the one who's like a kid here…"

"Haaah… Onii-chan."

Opening my eyes, I caught something… or someone, more like. Standing alone on the hill that elevates her from the rest of us, I was able to identify her quickly. She's one of the elementary school kids and… it seems that she'd get along nicely with us from the Service Club, if my guess of her being a loner is correct. Looking at her, standing, brooding and looking down on us as if we're… aliens to her just doesn't sit right with me. And the fact that I'm weak to sad, little girls doesn't help one bit.

Looks like I won't get to cook after all.

But wait, if I approach her now, that'll make me look suspicious, right? I mean, even if I say something like 'Hey, what's wrong, you can talk to Onii-san' that'll just make things worse! Hm… how should I tackle this… ah, screw it, I'll just pretend as if I'm trying to find reception and then talk to her.

Pulling out my phone, I carried out my plan.

Walking up the hill, I made sure to look like someone who's fixed to his phone. I constantly look up while holding my phone in the air, acting the part. She's standing near this caged like thing that strangely gives me the impression of a chicken's coop, leaning on it with her smile upside down. Even from here, I can still hear the commotion that they're making down there.

"Alright, let's try to put something interesting in the curry!" Hayama's taking his job seriously.

"I want!"

"Me too!"

"Me, me!"

"Oh! Oh!" Yui, what are you doing? "I want to add fruits! Like peaches!"

Watching that exchange, I can only cringe mentally. "Is she an idiot…?" truly, and idiot.

"Yup, everyone's an idiot."

Oh, she talked to me-I mean, sure, this is all part of the plan to get her to talk to me. Now from here, I just have to play it by heart.

Pocketing my phone and then crossing my arms, I snorted. "Well, that goes for a lot of people in this world." I made sure to add a little bit of sassiness. "Glad that someone as young as you realized it this early."

She gives me a very familiar scoff, the kind that I've seen on a certain Ice Princess before. "With the kind and amount of people I'm forced to be with, I would've ascended to enlightenment a long time ago."

"' _Most people'_ includes you too, no?"

Whoa!? Don't speak out of the blue like that, Yukinoshita, you scared me!

And what is she doing here?! This is supposed to be the scene where I give inspirational speeches and quotes and look like a big brother figure to this kid, c'mon author!

"Hey, I'm not strictly one of them. I'm a very special molecule that exists within a very densely populated oxygen rich environment. While the rest are just floating around, I go up high." You can call me helium.

"Special in the fact that you can take pride in that, I'm sure." She's looking at me with that judging look of hers. "You're beyond disgusting, Uzumaki-kun. You're inviting my contempt."

Oh, I've just invited it, now haven't I? "I thought we've established that a loooong time ago."

"Name."

I turned. "Huh? Who, me? Looks like you're forgetting your manners. Before you ask someone for their name, you give them yours first." I might've scared her there.

"…Tsurumi Rumi."

"Uzumaki Naruto and the Nee-chan over there is Yukinoshita Yukino."

"I could have introduced myself just fine, Uzumaki-kun."

"I'm just here trying to make things easier for you, princess."

From the corner of my eye, I saw Yui running up the hill, waving. "aaand this tawawa **(3)** Onee-san is Yuigahama Yui."

"Who's a tawawa Onee-san!" she complains before turning one eighty. "You're Tsurumi Rumi-chan, right? Let's get along well, okay?"

"You two are kind of different." You two? Who? "From those other people."

Anyway, she continues. "I'm different too. From those people."

"Different… what do you mean?" Yui asks.

"Everyone's a kid." Well, you're all kids, here… "So I thought maybe being alone wouldn't be so bad."

Not so bad?

"But… memories of friends from elementary school are kind of important, aren't they?" for her, Yui, no. I don't think so.

Rumi sighs. "I don't need memories. I can just make friends with other people when I get to middle school."

"She's right." I cannot help but agree.

But…

"That's not true." Whoa, you don't have to glare at me like that, princess. "Those girls that made fun of you are going to the same middle school as you, aren't they?" wait, which girls? "If you let things be from now on, other people will join in and support their cause of belittling you."

Ah… I see it now.

"I guess you're right." Rumi makes the face of someone who's accepted the possible conclusion that Yukinoshita has given her. Almost as if she's given up on trying. "I guess this is all just karma coming around."

"Karma?" now that's interesting. "Why karma, Rumi-chan?"

"This isn't the first time they've shunned somebody away like this. They did this in the past and I was one of the people who'd stand back and watch as they shun other kids away. But it would blow over quickly. Someone would make the suggestion and the rest of us follow. I'd go along with it too. Heh." How can a kid this young let out such a bitter laugh? "Now before I knew it, I'm the one getting shunned." Another set of bitter laughter. "I can't really complain now could I?"

I clapped.

And everyone's looking at me as if I had a third head.

I looked at the strange. "What? Can't I be amazed at how mature this kid is? Look, she's smart enough to come to that kind of conclusion and how can you not be impressed? Look at her and the rest of the kids down there!" I gestured. "It's a shame to do that. So don't. Rumi, that's your name right, you're the best ten year old that I've ever met in the past… three years or so. While your take on your… situation is mature, you're not really right."

"Oh, how so?" she can bite too.

"Let me tell you: you made a mistake in thinking that being a loner's going to be much better than a social butterfly. No, you're wrong. Being a loner means that you are segregating yourself from the rest of the world, not them segregating you."

"But they're the ones who shunned m-!"

"Ah, ah, ah." I wagged my finger, not letting her finish. "Yes, they were the ones who shunned you but do you think they care?" her eyes widen. "If you start to be a loner right after they decided that it's hilarious to ignore your very presence, then they'd take it as their victory. They've won, Rumi. And… in their eyes, you've lost. You're the loser. But… that doesn't mean that they're right, though." I smiled when the look of realization dawns upon her eyes. "See it now, Rumi? The difference between you and them is that you are able to see the difference; that crooked line that borders us and them. You're able to see it. And them? Let them think that they've won, but it's you who'll have the final laugh."

I placed a hand on the crown of her head.

"You know, there's this saying. When others go down…" I trailed a finger down, touching the dirt as I'm crouching to meet her level. Then, I flicked a thumb up, slowly raising my hand to the sky. "…you go high."

Letting go of the hand that I've rested on her head, I used both of them to support my chin by letting my elbows rest on my knees. "But me saying all of this won't do you good if you won't come to a decision. Choose, Tsurumi Rumi-chan. Do you want to go high, only to find yourself sitting on a lonely throne or do you want to remain low, and live within the ignorance of the people around you?"

I poked her nose. "Boop. Now that's the end of your counseling session with Naruto-Onii-san. Come see me if you want to talk more, ja ne~!"

And I hopped off the screen, whistling.

* * *

Dinner was good.

But… the mood now is anything but that.

"I hope that she's okay…"

The Service Club, Hayama's group and Komachi are sitting together in order to conduct an after dinner meeting with Hiratsuka-sensei. We're all seated around the table with a rather uneasy mood lingering around us.

"Are you worried about something?" asked Hiratsuka-sensei who's smoking.

"There's this girl who's always alone…" Hayama starts speaking.

"I kind'a feel sorry for her." Followed by his girlfriend... maybe.

Well, they're right. Rumi is a lonely girl, she basically told us about that herself. But they're not getting the whole picture here. Being alone is fine, the only thing that's not fine is that she's doing because of some pushy and stuck up brats forcing the condition on her. And even if Rumi followed along with their earlier shunning, this does not make things right.

"So, what do you wanna do about it?" Hiratsuka-sensei asks again, while disposing the ashes of her cigar in an ash compartment.

A moment of silence reign over us because none of us could give a solution. But Hayama, being the initiative and righteous person he is, speaks first eventually.

"I'll do whatever I can do to change that."

"Fool/Foolish."

Oho? When Hiratsuka-sensei said that Yukinoshita and I were in sync, she's right after all.

Being the gentleman I am, I let the fair lady deliver her speech first.

"Whatever you can do? I see." Hayama reacts by flinching. "You can't do it. You couldn't do it before, and you can't do it now."

"Because the only one that can change that is herself." I continued on Yukinoshita's behalf. "We're just counselors here, we offer advices, but we can never solve their problems for them. It'd beat the very definition of counseling."

Probably sensing that we're back into another ditch of dead end, Hiratsuka-sensei interferes. "Yukinoshita, Uzumaki. What about you two?"

Yukinoshita speaks first. "You said that this was part of the Service Club's summer camp. Would her case be included as a part of the club's activities?"

"Being this camp's counselors is your job in the first place. Then, what about you, Uzumaki?"

"Me?" I blinked. I felt sensei glare at me. "I guess I'll do whatever I've been doing up until now."

"…okay then."

"Then, if she seeks our help," Yukinoshita continues. "we will do whatever it takes to solve her problem."

I don't really agree with that, but fine. I'll play along.

And by the way, Hayama, can you please stop glaring at us like that?

"And is she asking you for help?"

"Ask?" I parroted the words right out of Hiratsuka-sensei's mouth. "Oh she asked alright, like any other mute person would."

Oh and if there're any mute people reading this, no offense.

"Maki, Yukinon." Both mine and Yukinoshita's eyes darted towards Yui. "I don't think she'd ask even if she wants to…" she says. "Rumi-chan said that she did the same thing. So she might think that it's unfair if she got help, since no one did."

"The world is unfair, Yui." I griped bitterly. "She's smart enough to realize that she's a part of the cycle, surely she's realized that it is unfair. Something's preventing her from asking for help and I suggest that we search into that first."

"But what is it?" Hayama pipes in, finally finding his voice.

"…" I stared at him for a good five seconds. "Of course you wouldn't know. If she asked for help, then it'd give her oppressors more than enough reason to oppress her even harder. By bringing in the adults, Rumi's oppressors would think that she's being even more stuck up and selfish than what they think she's already is at the moment."

"So, ultimately, by helping her deal with her problem; we are doing nothing but adding more of that weight onto her shoulders… is that what you're trying to say, Uzumaki-kun?"

"Ding, ding, ding. We have a winner folks!" I jeered humorlessly. "Yes. If we **just** gonna help her then we might as well forget changing anything in the first place."

And we're back to silent mode.

"Anyone objects? No? Okay, you guys can think about what you'll do." Sensei yawns. "I'll be going to bed."

"Old ladies and their beauty sleep…"

" **What was that, Uzumaki?"**

"Nothing."

* * *

To better optimize our thinking skills, we decided to switch to a more comfortable area under the gazebo and sitting around another wooden table.

"But, like, she's cute and all. Why can't she just hang out with another cute girl? She could, like, try and talk to them right? Then they'd, like, be friends, right? Easy peasy lemons squeezy, right?"

"Dude, that's awesome! Yumiko, you're a genius!"

If she is this world's standard of a genius, then I'm glad that I'm dumb.

"Aren't I?"

So glad.

"As far as foothold goes, Yumiko's got a point." Hayama says. "But seeing the situation, it'll be hard just getting someone to talk to her."

"Oh, right."

"I have an idea." Oh, glasses girl? She hasn't been speaking much lately.

"Oh, Hina, you got an idea?"

"She'll be fine. She can just live for her hobbies. When people really get into their hobbies, they start to do offline meet ups and go to conventions to hang out." Oh, that sounds like a legitimately good idea. "I'm sure that she'll fine a lot of friends and where she belongs. She'll soon realize that school isn't just the only thing in life."

Wow, glasses girl, forgive me for thinking lowly of you. I thought that you were just a side character that we needed in order to fill up an empty cast positio-

"Then she'd go along with the other BL loving fujoshi's from around the world!"

…never mind. I take back what I said.

"There are no girls in this world who could resist the hot, burning pathos inducing, love between men!" she hugs herself, a trickle of blood flowing down from her nose. "So I'm sure that she'll do fine if she just go and embrace the gayne-

"Yumiko, why don't you go with Hina and grab us some more tea?"

Thank you Hayama, can't believe that you'd be the savior this time.

"Okay Hayato!" Yumiko stands, before grabbing her glasses wearing friend by the arm forcefully. "Come on now Ebina, let's go!" she starts dragging her friend away from the table, ignoring all forms of resistance coming from glasses girl.

"Wait! I'm still not done spreading the gospel of our lord and savior BL-sama!"

"Alright, alright, Ebina, let's go."

"Wait, no, wait!"

Watching as the helpless, and hopeless, girl being dragged away; I couldn't help but shake my head.

"I don't think we'll solve anything if we don't find a way to make everyone friends again."

"Pft, everyone, huh?" I rolled my eyes.

"That's impossible." Yukinoshita immediately states. "There isn't even a remote chance of it happening, not like this." our esteemed club president, people!

"Hey, Yukinoshita-san, what's up with you?"

Oh ho?! Incoming catfight!

"What do you mean?" ever the fearless lioness she is, Yukinoshita retorts with an unwavering composure.

"We were, like, thinking about making everyone friends. Why do you have to, like, say that?" she asks. I assume that she's using what people would call her 'bitch' voice right now. "Like, I totally don't like you much, but I'm putting up with you because we're, like, on a trip here!"

I leaned back, watching the exchange with a stupid grin on my face. Aaaah, I can already smell something roasting.

Yui's completely aware of the face I'm making, by the way. "Maa, maa… Yumiko."

"Oh?" Yukinoshita crosses her arms, irking Yumiko further with a challenging smirk. "I'm flattered to know that you have such high opinions about me. As for me, I hate you."

She dropped the first bomb.

"Yukinon!" Yui hisses.

"But… Rumi-chan's got a pretty strong personality. It might be hard for her to blend in." Komachi offers us her two cents.

"You're right. Kind of like she's disinterested, or disillusioned."

"Disillusioned? More like she's looking down on everyone else. She got shunned probably because she acts all holier than thou." Yumiko then gives Yukinoshita a not-so-subtle glare. "Like someone we know."

Excuse me, what?

Disillusioned?

"Disillusioned?" I repeated the words, followed by gasps of laughter. "Disillusioned? _What_ the fuck are you talking about?" I asked. "She's not disillusioned, she's completely aware that she's being shunned. She's completely aware of the fact that her 'friends' are ignoring her. The girl knows about that, Jesus, it's you who don't know anything here."

"Oh and what do you know?" I can feel the pitiful glare – if you can even call it a glare – that Yumiko directed at me.

I kindly returned her with a _real_ glare.

She jumps and you can see the exact moment when her body flinched. Goosebumps appeared on her skin and now she's standing behind her glasses wearing friend. I might have put too much intent on that one, because everyone's looking at me as if I'm about to pull a Jason Voorhees on Yumiko.

"Unlike you, I actually bothered **talking** to the kid myself earlier this evening. Don't believe me, you can ask Yukinoshita and Yui, they were with me after all." My glare died down and no one's sweating anymore. "I **know** why she's in this situation and I **know** what she thinks of herself while being subjugated to this segregation. But that's not all that I know. I **know** the reason why you think she's looking down on others. You feel you're being looked down upon because you're a hundred percent aware that you're far more inferior."

"You…!"

"Yumiko, stop it." says Hayama.

Being the sheltered little princess she is, she couldn't bare the reality that her crush's just told her to stop. "Hmph!" she stomps off the place.

I can already hear her crying as she storms away.

* * *

"Naruto… uhn… Naruto…"

…I'm straight…

Right?

Saika's sleeping next to me.

My mind's telling me no, but my body… my body's telling yeeaaaa-

-eeeeah I'm getting outta here.

Closing the cabin door behind me, I decided that a late night walk outside underneath the starry sky is the best thing I could do right now. Alright, the next best thing. Stepping out of the cabin, I found myself wandering the area around the campsite, following the dirt path. I don't really know where I'm going right now, I'm just following this path while enjoying the night's warm breeze.

"Hm~ hm~ hm~"

Hm? Is that… humming?

Focusing my senses on my ears, I managed to identify the humming as twinkle twinkle little star. Who's humming this late at night anyway? Curious, I tracked down the sound.

And, oh, it's Yukinoshita.

I'm conflicted. Should I interrupt her? Yeah, I guess I should.

"Yo, what're you doing this late at night?" I came out from my spot behind the bushes. I totally looked suspicious just now.

"…so stalking is one of your hobbies huh, Uzumaki-kun?" she asks me, stepping away as she says that.

"Oi, it's not stalking if you're aware of my presence." But she's not exactly wrong though. I was a ninja, stalking's just one of the things that we normally do in the daily.

"Hm… and what are you doing here yourself? It would've been better if you'd to never wake up from your sleep."

"That's just a nicer way to say 'please die'." I muttered. "Don't… do that, please, it's already late at night."

She smirked in triumph, before glancing upwards towards the starry sky.

"Are you out stargazing?" I asked.

"No." she shakes her head, before looking at me again. "I'm actually here because of you. Miura-san is still crying and Yuigahama-san is currently trying to console her. I never know that you'd ever make a girl cry, Uzumaki-kun."

"Psh. You'd do the same thing." And I never knew that you couldn't stand people crying. Hell, I should cry often.

A gentle breeze went by us.

"I need to do something for that girl."

"Rumi?"

"Yes."

I pursed my lips. "You're awfully motivated for a girl you don't know."

"All the people that I've helped so far consisted of people I didn't know in the first place." Touché. Including me, huh? "I don't only reach out to people that I know. Despite what you've said about Tsurumi Rumi-san's situation being something she herself is aware of, I still think that there's something she failed to look into."

Yukinoshita walks over to a nearby tree, trailing a finger on the bark.

"Don't you think that girl is like Yuigahama-san in a way?"

"Rumi reminded me of… well, myself to be honest." I sat down, hugging my legs to retain warmth. "That's why I was a little mad when Hayama and his girlfriend decided to take things to their own matter. If you see someone else going through the same thing as you did before, there's a part of you that wants to see them go through it like you did."

I paused.

"I had no one to help me to go through the isolation I went through, maybe a part of me wants Rumi to be strong enough to go through the same thing as I did. But… I'm just reminded that not all of us can be as strong as the other."

"…what a narcissistic way of thinking, Uzumaki-kun."

I blew raspberries at her.

"But… perhaps you're right, Uzumaki-kun. Some of us are born strong, while others aren't as fortunate." She pauses. "But I will still need to do something for her." She kicks a pebble. "And I think that it's still bothering Hayama-kun."

Oh?

"…is there something going on between you and Hayama?"

Yukinoshita gives me a delayed answer. "We went to the same elementary school. That's all." She pauses again. "And our parents know each other. His father is a legal advisor for my family's company."

"Heeeh… really? Heh, you rich folks are really something else aren'tcha?" I couldn't help laughing. "Dealing with people because of your family sounds like it sucks."

"It does, believe me."

Yeah, I remember a certain actress-slash-princess telling me the same thing a long time ago.

Yukinoshita leans back on the tree, looking down at her feet. "Anything involving the family's reputation is my sister's job. As for me… I'm just a replacement."

Oh God, not another sibling feud. I've had enough of that with Sasuke and Itachi, I don't want to know especially since her sister's scary as fuck.

"Regardless, I'm glad that I could come here today. I thought I'd never be able to."

"Huh, why not?"

This time, unlike before, a chilly breeze swept past us and Yukinoshita doesn't answer me.

"Anyway, I think it's time for me to return."

Huh… avoiding the question… "Okay, see you." standing up, I dusted my pants.

"Hm. Good night."

She walks away, disappearing into the distance.

Looking up, I looked at the sky. So many stars, yet only one moon.

"Heh. How about you guys, are you lonely up there?"

Like they could hear me…

* * *

 **1: C'mon, you gotta know who I'm referring to here...**

 **2: Ikemen, pronounced ee-keh-men, are handsome dudes. Hot Boiz.**

 **3: Tawawa is basically a term used to refer to big breasted girls. Anime recommendation: Tawawa on Monday.**


	8. Like a persistent Oak tree

**Hey guys, very sorry for the late update. Just finished my finals so I've been busy these past few weeks, but eh, I doubt that I did well. Anyway, here you go, another chapter just for you. Oh and thank you for those of you who reviewed, they mean so much to me.**

* * *

" _WAKE UP!_

 _Grab abrunlknhsdafghdkgfnsl MAKE UP!_

 _Haiohnglsdkngoioknsglkn SHAKE UP!_

 _Whyajnvlnsodnkeysjsdhgflshgdeh TABLE!_

" _Heryahglosdnalaskdgnlkn FABLE!"_ **(1)**

Ugh… my head… it hurts…

My finger groggily pressed the [Stop Snoozing] indicator on my phone, turning it off, but I'm still not on yet. Rolling around and shuffling underneath my sheets, I slowly opened my eyes and come upon a ceiling that I have never seen before in my life.

"Oh yeah… I'm on a field trip."

Field trip… huh… never thought that I'd actually really join one considering my age. With a few quick blinks, my eyes are awake already. Standing up, I did some light stretching to bring out the willingness to live from deep inside of me. I don't have time to do a morning run, much less my work out routine… seeing as it's already way past seven. Hiratsuka-sensei told us to gather at around seven, so, yeah, I'm late.

As if on cue, the door to my cabin opens, revealing a particular individual that I have no problem talking and spending my time with.

"Ah, Naruto, you're awake."

Aaah… waking up to the sight of Saika isn't bad. In fact, it's good. I think I'm a hundred percent awake now.

I raised my hand in greeting. "Sup, Saika. Are the others awake already?"

He pouts. Damn. "Of course they are! We're waiting for you, you know? We had to do morning announcement and exercise without you…"

"Maa, sorry, sorry." In fact I'm not sorry at all, I get to see a pouting Saika. Damn, if only my eyes have built-in cameras in them. "Anyway, where are they now?" I missed morning announcement and exercise…

"We're just about to have breakfast." He informs me with a smile.

"Oh? What are we having?"

"Curry. There're leftovers from last night. Hiratsuka-sensei and the others heated them up earlier, I think they're already serving it up by now."

"Really?" I'm not so sure about having curry for breakfast… but oh well, I'll eat what I'm served. "Wait here a minute, okay? I'm gonna change."

"Sure."

I opened my bag, which, I remind you, only contains little to no items at all. Komachi was thoughtful enough to pack a few of my clothing in her luggage, since the only things I'm carrying are some power tools, a studded baseball bat and a white hockey mask. As I'm putting on a fresh pair of clothing, Saika speaks up.

"Ne, Naruto? Do you exercise often?"

I slipped on a very comfortable and good smelling orange shirt after taking off my nightwear. "You mean as in working out?" I can feel him nod behind me. "Yeah, I kind'a do. I have a morning routine that I do almost every day." I say 'almost' because there are days that I couldn't be bothered with exercising.

"Eeeh… no wonder your body's so well built…" I can sense a hint of awe from his voice.

I stopped putting on a pair of pants midway to the top. I turned my head to gaze at Saika. "Oh, am I now?"

"Uh huh!" seeing him nod enthusiastically without a hint of hesitation is quite cute. "I've seen athletes performing in the past, professional athletes that normally perform in national and international events; and you have a body build similar to them. Maybe even better!"

I chuckled. "Thank you for the praise, Saika." If he is a girl, that would have done an unnecessary boost to my ego. "But it's not like I'm actively trying to be… athletic."

"Really? But you work out, though?"

Hmm…

How should I say this…

"It's… more along the lines of… habit, discipline, routine… along those lines." I finally pulled up my pants all the way to my waist, giving them a good buckle and zip. Huh, these khakis are more comfortable than I thought. Aren't these what modern soldiers wear to battle? "I've been doing it ever since I was younger and it stuck to me as a habit now. Oh, but I don't do it as often as I used to, though. Hehehe…"

Yeah… I mean, the world's not under the threat of extinction from a mad, power hungry and god-like human with the ability to shoot down meteors and cause earthquakes from a single stomp of his foot, right? If no, then I see no need to really exert much effort as I used to before.

"You've been doing it ever since you were young…" it seems that the idea of maintaining such discipline is alien to Saika. I mean, I completely understand what he's feeling. If I was an athlete, then it would've make sense for me to keep up with that kind of habit. But the image that I've been letting him and the rest of the world around me see is that of an asshole and a whiskered face jerk who makes cold cash from writing erotica.

And an asshole who is also a whiskered face jerk who makes cold cash from writing erotica don't, normally, do morning workout.

"How… young, if you don't mind me asking?"

I stopped shuffling through the contents of my bag. I took a moment to come up with an answer. "Around… eleven… no… twelve, I guess, I'm not sure."

"Whoa… you're so awesome, Naruto."

"Hehehe, thanks, I don't get much of those these days."

The word 'awesome' is synonymous to the word 'great', 'amazing' and 'impressive'. A person who's considered awesome must be at least one of these things that I mentioned, if not, then he or she's just probably a special little snowflake that exist every once in a blue moon. Winning a race at the barest time limit is awesome. Hitting that home run and making that horsehide ball disappear into the sky is awesome.

See the pattern?

Being able to do something that other people can't normally do is awesome. In fact, it should be the official non-euphemistic definition of the word awesome.

Or… to make it easier, they should just make the word synonymous to my name.

"Hehehe…"

"Hm? Why are you laughing, Naruto?"

"No, nothing." I coughed. "Shall we go and join the others for breakfast?"

"Oh yeah! But before that, can I have your number? You see, it'd be easier to contact you if you're up for a round of tennis or two. You don't mind playing tennis with me, right?"

…

"Heh, I love my life."

"E-Eh? Naruto? Why are you grinning like that…?"

I gave him my number in the end.

* * *

We're in the mess hall and I'm over here sitting on the same table as Saika. Yukinoshita, Yui and Komachi are sitting together on the same table, diagonal of us. The curry is, surprisingly, still good. Looks like the roux they used was a good one. Oh but we're not just having curry, that'd be unhealthy. They also prepared a side dish of grilled fish, miso soup and pickled vegetables to go along with our rice. The curry can be considered a main dish in itself, if it's eaten with the rice. But in this case, it's just there as a dipping sauce. So sad.

"Alright, here's what we'll do!"

In the midst of our breakfast, Hiratsuka-sensei demands our attention. Naturally, all of us stopped eating to look at her. And I was not an exception. Damn. I reminded me of those days back when the Allied Shinobi Forces were still a thing. Some of the officers would barge into the mess, shouting that you put your undivided attention on him or her. Jinchuriki be damned. Those guys were scary. I can't really imagine what it's like for those people on ANBU or other Black Ops division…

"We'll do a test of courage followed by a good ol' fashioned bonfire to end the night."

Eeeh… a bonfire, eh? Like the ones during school festivals? Don't they, like, have people dance around it in pairs?

"The kids are having their free time during the day, so I want all of you guys to get the necessary prep work done in the meantime."

I raised my hand.

"No, Uzumaki, looking after the kids while they're playing to make sure that they don't hurt themselves is not a very good reason to skip your duties."

I lowered my hand.

…then I raised it again.

"No, just because you were bitten by a snake the other day isn't a good reason either."

Well, at least I tried.

Sighing, I placed my eating utensil on my plate, pushing my chair away from the table so that I could draw some space to lean my back. "A bonfire, huh? Can't say I'm really interested in it…"

"Huh, why's that?" Saika looks at me wondering.

"It's..." how do I say this. "It's just… no, never mind." I shook my head, trying to dismiss the topic. I gave Saika a weak smile. "As long as I have my Estus flasks with me, I'm good."

And by Estus flasks I mean cup ramen.

"Huh… you're weird, Naruto." He giggles.

I chuckled. God he's cute.

"Mumumumu… Onii-chan looks like he's having a good time talking with Sai-chan over there…. Mumumu…"

"Uuu… Maki…"

"…hmph."

…uwaaa… what're those three girls looking at here for? Did I unknowingly do something to offend them?

"But," Yui starts talking, grabbing the two's attention, "doesn't that mean they'll have the kids go in pairs and dance?" like what I said.

"Ooh! I know, I know, like the, Ventura Ventura?" …I don't even know what reference that is from. **(2)**

"I think you mean the Oklahoma Mixer." Yukinoshita corrects my (un)related little sister. "At least you got the country right."

"Dancing… bonfires… ugh…" I droned out like someone who's just been told that his job proposal was rejected. "Now I know that I don't like it."

"That's not very nice, Naruto…" See, even Saika's scolding me.

"I'm fine with the bonfire… but dancing? We don't have to dance, right?"

Saika shrugs. "I don't think so? I mean, we could if we want to, right?"

"Really?"

"I-In that case…" he fidgets around, eyes avoiding my stare, "w-would it be fine if I… um… you know…"

"Hm? What is it?"

"N-No, it's nothing." He sinks into chair, steam coming out of his ears.

Weird guy… he's reminding me of Hinata for some reason.

…

Why did I have to remind myself of the same girl that nearly died for me while confessing her love to me in the middle of a very dangerous fight and the very same girl that held my hand while I was facing Madara and Obito?

God…

"Oi Uzumaki, I can see your soul escaping your body. Guess it'll come in handy during tonight's test of courage."

"Shuddup, I hate ghosts."

I really do.

"So, we're in charge of the test of courage?" I asked again.

"They said they've got monster costumes." Hiratsuka sensei says. "So split up now and get ready to prepare everything. I want them done before tonight."

I glared at our so called 'head advisor'. "Oh yeah, and what will _you_ be doing?"

Instead of answering me immediately like any other normal person would, a trolling smile slowly appears on her face.

" _Those kids aren't going to look after themselves, you know?"_

…this bitch.

* * *

Can't believe she pulled the bitch card on me…

Can't believe it… can't believe it…

She really ditched the rest of us, left all the work to us while she's somewhere sleeping under a tree, breaking not a single sweat. That's real adult, people…

"Uuu… Onii-chan, put some back into that stack!"

"Even though that rhymed, I don't like how you're rushing me, Komachi."

Never knew that stacking up chopped wood could be… boring. Hell this is boring as heck! Why can't I do the other more interesting stuffs, anyway, huh? That Tobe-dude is chopping up the wood! (hey, that rhymed!) Hayama's doing some sort of… wood gathering along with Saika! Yui, Yukinoshita and the two girls in Hayama's clique are off doing God knows what and my (un)related little sister's over here drowning in the same type of boredom as I am!

"You… can go and catch a break Komachi." I finally said. I couldn't bear seeing my (un)related little sister in such state of boredom. "I'll finish the rest of it here.

"Really? Waaai~! I love Onii-chan!" she gave me a quick peck on the cheek. "KTHXBYE!"

Aaaaand there she goes, already out of the camping grounds.

"…she could've at least been more hesitant…" but oh well, more work for me… yaaay.

I spent the next ten minutes stacking up these woods as if it's fucking jenga.

"I swear… they better give me an award for being the first guy to play the world's hugest jenga…" as for winning, I'll need it to be a different award. "Especially since I'm playing it alone like I always do."

"Eh?! You play jenga alone?" Hayama exclaims in surprise as he's walking nearby to deposit more wood.

Do shadow clones count?

"Well sorry that I play my games alone. What's that gonna do, huh, will the world blow up?

"No… but…

I stopped him.

"Aw shuddup and go do your job, let me concentrate." That was a Rhetorical Question you ninny… are you even literate?

Thankfully, I only have to build two of these. Normally, from what Komachi said, you'd only need one; but seeing as there're a lot of these kids, we'll have to make two bonfires. I'm done with the first one, so I'll go and make the second one now.

I turned my head around, looking at the walking form of Hayama.

"Oi Hayama, tell your friend Toto or whatever to cut the woods more evenly!"

"Alright! And his name is Tobe!"

"Don't know don't care!"

It would be great if I have shadow clones with me right now, but that's not happening. Nu uh. Saika's busy depositing wood to Tobe who'll eventually chop them and then Hayama will grab the chopped wood and give them to me. It's simple labor division, even elementary school kids could do it.

…that actually brings up a very good question…

Why aren't those brats the ones doing the work?! I know I didn't attend my middle school camp, but shouldn't the kids themselves do this? You know, for the whole 'immersion' deal?

Well… I suppose that chopping woods, carrying and gathering them could be a dangerous job… but that still doesn't explain why Hiratsuka-sensei ditched us that damned 'responsible' adult…

I swear… even Rumi's acts more like an adult than her.

"Oi Uzuki-kun, I'm done chopping the logs! Hayato will come and deliver 'em to you!"

"Really? Thanks! And I'm not fucking Uzuki god fucking damn it!"

Good thing that the kids aren't here… otherwise they would have learned some _colorful_ vocabularies along with whatever it is that they're supposed to learn in camps.

"Uzumaki, I have more for you here."

"Oh, good, just put 'em over there."

Now go sit somewhere comfortable to look all nice and pretty.

Not much can be said afterwards, unless you want to read a very detailed description of me stacking a bunch of logs on top of each other.

It's sunny and the heat is unforgiving. It is summer, after all. I should've brought sunscreen… oh well, a little bit of tan won't hurt my skin.

"Oi, guys, I'm done here! I'mma go and catch up with the rest!"

"Okay! Tell Hiratsuka-sensei that we're done too over here!" Hayama shouts back to me from where he's at.

I left the area, heading towards where Hiratsuka-sensei told us to go to when we're done with our work. It's the same river where we stopped at yesterday morning, where they treated my snake bitten foot at. As I walk to the location, my path shaded by the thick luscious trees around me, I can already hear sounds from the river. There's no mistaking this voice. It's Komachi's.

And I was right. Komachi and Yui are playing in the river in their swimsuits. I didn't know that Komachi brought her swimsuit with her… or maybe I forgot about it… oh well. It takes no more than five seconds after I reached the location for Komachi to spot me with her keen eyes.

"Ah! It's Onii-chan! Hey, Onii-chan, lookie here!" Komachi waves her little hand at me, startling Yui. I smirked and waved a hand to return Komachi's gesture.

I walked near the river's edge and Komachi approaches me, while Yui shies a few steps behind my (un)related little sister. "Ne, ne, Onii-chan, how do you like my new swimsuit? It's cute, isn't it? Ta-dah~! See? See?"

I would've acted like a twelve year old virgin, but I'm not twelve. Nor am I a virgin. So, I merely laughed and ruffled her hair, emitting a groan of displeasure from Komachi. "Yeah, yeah, it's cute."

"Moou… don't mess my hair like that!"

Komachi does not like it when I'm treating her like a kid, but she knows when to act childish and I'm to blame for that. Man, do I spoil her rotten…

Komachi pulls back and shoved Yui in front of me.

"See? Yuigahama-san's swimsuit is cute too! Isn't it?"

Komachi, you sly girl you.

"K-K-Komachi-chan?!"

Aw, Yui's red on the face. It's kind'a cute to watch.

And sexy at the same time too cuz daaaamn those puppies are huge.

"Yeah, I think it suits her too." I'm not going to react from something like this, foolish little sister. Just who do you think your brother is? He's the charming Toad Sage renowned for his… eh… slightly misunderstood, but good nonetheless, reputation with women. Who do you think I am? It'll take waaaaay more than a pair of tits to get a reaction out of me.

"Huh, I never thought that you'd come here. Enjoying the view, you sick pervert?"

I turned around, facing the owner of the familiar voice. I came face to face with a swimsuit clad Yukinoshita. My body was frozen stiff, my eyes locked on to her form for a good three seconds before I could even register the fact that she'd just insulted me. I scowled immediately.

I was about to retort to her question, but another voice interrupted me.

"Oh, Uzumaki, so you came here after all."

I turned around annnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn-

has stopped working.

I… I think I'm in love.

The painful tug I felt in my chest when my eyes landed on her form was definitely real. My eyes could not contain themselves; they find pleasure in roaming her visage. For once in so many years, words won't come out from my throat due to nervousness. My stomach felt like it's churning as a torrent of feelings seems to be turning it into a blender.

"I-I-I uh… eh…"

God damn.

God fucking damn.

I take back what I said about her being a bitch.

That's cuz she's one good looking bitch.

"Ahem." Yukinoshita levels me a knowing glare.

Snapping myself from my stupor, I shook my head to rid all of the thoughts that I had. "Uh, yeah, I-I'm done with work so I think that it's a good time to rest."

"Oh, alright then. How are the rest?" Hiratsuka-sensei crosses her arms, placing them underneath chest.

"They're," gulp, "almost done." Was that squeaky voice me?

"Good. We're going to have a lot of work later, so take the time to rest now." Is all she says before walking away.

As she walks away, I can't help but follow her form.

"GUH! Why did you punch me?!"

"Ah, it seems that my fist jumped on itself."

"FISTS DON'T JUMP!"

While I'm over here rubbing my stomach, though it didn't hurt, the glasses girl and Hayama's girlfriend walk past us. I noticed, from the corner of my eyes, that Yukinoshita is staring at one of them, the one with the blonde dyed hair. Her boobs in particular. Komachi notices this too and we both have similar smirks on our faces.

I placed a hand on Yukinoshita's shoulder. "Well, your sister's got it going for her, so you can probably count on those genes too."

My club president gives me a look of honest confusion.

"What does my sister have to do with anything?" she asks me with wondering eyes.

"Don't worry about it, Yukinoshita-san!" Komachi jumps in. "They don't decide a woman's worth and everyone's different!" pfft! "And I'm totally on your side, Yukinoshita-san!"

Looking at your mom, Yui, you'll be changing sides ten years from now on in the future.

"I see… thank you?"

God, my club president can't be this cute. **(3)**

Yukinoshita is drifting away into deep thought.

"My sister…"

She's figuring it out.

"Genes…?"

She's gonna get it.

"Worth…"

Her eyes are starting to tremble. She's getting there.

"Different…?"

"Ha-?!"

By the indication of her covering up her nonexistent chest, I can definitely, but not safely say, that she's figured it out.

"I wasn't concerned about them or whatsoever," she's looking at that blonde girl's chest, "but if you intend on passing judgment based on one's appearance," then Hiratsuka-sensei's, "you should make judgment not based on a single portion," then Yui's, "but on the balance of their full figure." And then, finally, her own chest.

Now, it's Hiratsuka-sensei's turn to put her hand on Yukinoshita's shoulder.

"Yukinoshita… it's still far too early to give up."

I opened my mouth,

"Man, Hiratsuka-sensei sure does have a BIG heart to offer you such a HUGE and MEANINGFUL advice. You should take that advice through your CHEST and into your MODEST heart Yukinoshita. If you don't, I'm sure she'll be DISAPPOIN **TIT**."

Hiratsuka-sensei had to cover her mouth to prevent herself from erupting into an explosive fit.

And I spent the next ten minutes running for my life from a furious Yukinoshita.

* * *

It took the combined efforts of Yui, Hiratsuka-sensei and Komachi to make Yukinoshita calm down and also a well-thrown rock to my face courtesy of le prez herself. Now underneath the shade of this particular tree, I'm sitting with a bruised and still bleeding nose, grinning stupidly all to myself.

Worth it.

Then, I stopped smiling.

"Man… I wish I could splash water all over Saika…" naw'm saying?

"…why is your nose bleeding like that?"

"WHOA?! GOD YOU FFFFfffff….flamingo."

Rumi stares at me like an owl.

I coughed. "Ahem, I mean, I fell, yeah, I fell and hit the ground. That's why it's bleeding."

"You fell?" she blinks. "Weren't you just bitten by a snake the other day?"

"Yeah, er, the… horoscope says that if you're a Libra then this week is gonna be hell for you."

"So you're a Libra…"

"Y-Yeah I am."

…

…

Damn, this is awkward.

"Why are you not swimming?"

"Aside from the obvious wound on my face, I still can't dip my foot in water." I raised the foot that was bitten by the snake yesterday. "It'll get infected."

"Hm… I suppose."

Now, I suppose, it's my turn to be asking the questions.

"Why are you here?" I asked.

"It's free time, isn't it? When I got back to the cabin after breakfast, no one was there already."

Funny, that's kind'a what happened to me too earlier this morning. Except I got up late. And Saika came to fetch me after wards.

…of course, I'm not going to say that to her, I don't want to drop her mood any lower now do I?

"Really?"

"Yeah."

It seems that our mere presence alone has gathered the attention of two beautiful ladies. It's ironic, isn't it? Two loners, together, receiving attention? Heh.

Yui squats down to Rumi's level. "Ne, Rumi-chan, would you like to play with us? You can go and leave the dumb Onii-san over here alone."

Oi. "Oi."

Rumi shakes her head.

"Oh…" standing to her full height once again, Yui's defeated.

The silence that remained earlier returns once again, this time it's three times more awkward since Yukinoshita and Yui are watching.

"Ne, Naruto."

"What?"

"Do you still have friends from elementary school?"

"…let me tell you this: I skipped my middle school field trip because I know that no one would talk to me."

"O-Oh…"

"But to answer your question, no. I never talked to any of them anymore. Maybe it's because I was still a kid back then but… I don't really remember having fond memories during elementary."

Well… unless you count hugging my beautiful fifth grade Math teacher. Man… kids can get away with everything, even if it shoving their face into boobies.

"I don't like your expression, Uzumaki-kun."

"Shuddup."

"Well, anyway, that only goes for you, Maki." Yui says in a matter of fact like tone.

"I haven't seen anyone from mine, either."

You liar. What about Hayama?

"R-Rumi-chan, these two people are unique cases so…"

I did not hesitate to cut her right there.

"What's wrong with being unique, huh?" I questioned. "It's a synonym for _special_. And special is synonymous to awesome. And awesome is synonymous to Uzumaki Naruto."

"Uwaaah… his narcissistic side is appearing…"

"Disgusting, Uzumaki-kun."

Even Rumi's giving me questioning glances.

Yukinoshita shakes her head. "Ignoring what this git just said, yeah, it's interesting how language can be very flexible."

Now see why I became an author?

I direct a look towards Yui. "Yui, how many people from your elementary school do you still talk to today?"

She makes a thinking look. "Uh… around one or two… or three…?"

"And how many classes and students are there in each class?"

"Three classes and thirty students in each class."

"So… that's exactly…" let's see, three out of ninety is 3.333… so on and so forth, "3.33 percent if I round it off to three significant figures, Now, I ask you, where're the remaining 96.7 percent, Yui?"

"W-Well, it's hard to contact them so…"

"Do you even try to contact them in the first place?"

She has no answer for me.

"See? And this is Yui we're talking about, someone who looks attractive from all three hundred and sixty degrees, which makes her odds even better than most."

"A-Attractive? Hehehe…" she's gushing to herself.

"Yuigahama-san, that wasn't meant as a compliment."

Grabbing a nearby discarded tree branch, I used it to draw my diagram on the sandy and gravel ground we're standing and sitting on.

"See, most people aren't attractive from all three sixty degrees. They have at most; I'm just pulling numbers out of my butt here, ninety degrees going for them. So based on the earlier percentage that we came up with and then including varieties of other plausible factors such as getting into an accident and dying as a result of said accident, moving away to another part of town or country, getting fat and resulting into self-wallowing and pitying to get rid of the miserable feeling or even something as absurd as getting teleported into another dimension… I can surely say that you get at least, AT LEAST, _0.I-don't-give-a-flying-fuck-about-about-my-elementary-school-friends percent chance of still being in contact with your elementary school peers._ "

Yukinoshita, Yui and Rumi have their mouths wide open.

"See what I'm trying to say here, Rumi? No one talks to their elementary school friends seven years later, unless you're a childhood friend of that person, like we normally see in anime. And is your life an anime? No, no it's not. What about Yui, you ask, why is she still maintaining contact with 3.33 percent of her elementary school friends? I do not know, maybe she's just that much of a try hard."

"Hey!"

"We call people like her, at least if you chose statistics as one of your majors, Outliers. They exist outside the system. That one special snow flake. _Weird_."

"HA HA HA!" she's not laughing here, just plain screaming. "Hearing this from someone who's proud to call himself _special_ is really rich! Are you _that_ kind of special, Maki?"

But I ignored her.

"And don't get me started on other concerning factors like her kitchen Chernobyl tendencies and inability to make smart decisions."

"CAN WE PLEASE STOP INSULTING ME IN THIS CONVERSATION?! PLEASE?!"

Ignoring my pink haired friend's outburst and my esteemed club president who's doing her damn best to contain her laughter, I proceeded with what I have to say. "The thing is, it's basically impossible to maintain friends all the way from elementary school for most of us."

"But… impossible won't do. That answer won't do." The girl whispers out, clutching to her pink digital camera tightly. "My mom wouldn't want that. She always asks if I'm getting along with my friends. She wanted me to take a lot of pictures with them over summer camp, so she gave me this camera."

Hm…

"And when they're shunning you, you really feel like you're at the bottom." She shifts uncomfortable on her spot. "I don't like it. It's kind of miserable. But… I can't do anything about it."

"Why not?" Yukinoshita asks.

Rumi hides her face beneath her hands, covering it up as if she's too embarrassed to show her face. "It's because I did the same thing before. I can't get along with any of them anymore. Even if I try, I won't know when they'll do it again. So, I thought it'd be okay to stop trying."

…I see.

This kid… she's given up. She stopped trying, just as she's said it herself.

People judge others based on many factors. Looks, appearance, attitude… basically it becomes a stereotype if they continuously point out that one particular flaw in another human being. If you're always alone all the time at school, you'll be called a loner and loners will be judged as loners forever. Even if you're not a loner and you try to do something to stand out, they'll use that against you… to attack you.

This is how fucked up and cruel the reality known as society is. A system, a status quo that can't seem to change no matter how much time has passed.

Standing up, I swept off the earlier nonsense that I scribbled on the ground with a smooth sweep of my sandal. I looked at Rumi.

"You don't want to feel miserable?"

"Yeah." A nod.

"You've given up?"

Doubt. Uncertainty. Hesitation.

I can see them in her eyes.

Well now… looks like you've still got a little bit of fire in you.

"Okay, hope you have fun in the test of courage tonight, Rumi."

With my hands in my pockets, I walked away.

"Maki? Where're you going?"

"I'm gonna take piss. Shoo, don't peep you pervert."

"Kyaaa! Wh-Wh-Why're you doing that there?! Go further into the bushes, you idiot! Stupid, dummy, molester, deviant Maki!"

Problem: You will never change the world. You can change yourself. How will you change?

Answer: You don't change yourself. You **force** the world to **change** for you, regardless of how **impossible** it is.

* * *

Extreme disappointment.

Judging from the vocal reaction that the rest of my peers just gave, that must be the feeling that they're feeling right now.

I mean, I can't blame them.

"They said 'monsters' for the test of courage, right? Not… 'a group of retarded circus clowns', right?" I asked.

"What are these? These are, like, some dirt cheap cosplay." I couldn't have agreed more with you, girl-who-cried-because-of-me.

The outfits that are laid in front of us are really cheap cosplay outfits piled together messily inside two boxes. I'm not sure which one goes along with what because of how messy and mismatched they are. All of us are inside a store room with fitting rooms inside so that we can change into our outfit of choice.

"Spirit Sign: Fantasy Seal!" glasses girl is dressed in a modified shrine maiden outfit. It still maintains its traditional red-white color palette, but the sleeves are detached, the skirt's shorter and a yellow neckerchief is tied around the collar of the outfit. There's also a large red and white ribbon tied around the back of her head. **(4)**

"Are witches supposed to be monsters?" Saika is, to my delight, dressed in an obvious witch's outfit. He's dressed in a dark buttoned blouse with a white apron over it, making for a nice black-white gradient. He also has a long skirt to go along with the looks. And of course, he can't be a witch without the large pointy hat and straw broom. **(5)** "But it's not scary, though…"

"Oh, it is scary."

Scarily tempting. Here comes the Why Boner.

"Ne, Onii-chan! Lookit me!"

Turning around, I see Komachi dressed in a cat suit with cat features like paws, ears and tails. The paws are inserted like gloves, the ears are headband and the tails are tied around her waist like a normal belt. Good thing it's not the… _other_ type of tail attachment, if you naw'm sayin'?

"Ta-dah~!"

"Wazzat, a bakeneko?"

"Maybe? But I don't care, it's cute though, so whatever." Yeah, it is. Komachi tries out different poses while dressed as a cate.

Meanwhile… miss Yuki-Onna over there is floating towards here dressed as her namesake. She's, of course, drawn to the cat motifs on Komachi's person. It's kind'a refreshing to see her like this.

What was that nod for?

"It looks very good on you." Oho? What's this, Yukinoshita is praising someone? THE Yukinoshita Yukino is praising someone?! OMG, the world's ending, pigs are flying!

"It's very eerie how that kimono suits you." I said to Yukinoshita. "You're like a real snow woman." Yuki-Onna, whatever.

"Likewise to you too, Uzumaki-kun." She says, confusing me a little bit. "Your attempt at pulling a deformed cat man is commendable."

"Oi, don't call me Cat Man."

Nanananananananana… Cat Man!

Yeah, right.

Meanwhile… another friend of ours is wearing a rather… bold attire. Synthetic black leather, tight fitting short shorts and a top that's not really doing what it's supposed to do with the huge hole on the center of the material… what the fuck did they put inside those boxes? The principal's fetish treasure or something? Anyway, she's supposed to be a devil-girl-kind-of-person-thing…

"M-Maki! How do I look?"

I smiled. "You know what they say, the clothes makes the man." In this case, the dangerously erotic and risqué S&M fetish costume is not doing much good for your reputation.

"What do you meaaaaa… oooh… oooh! Hmph! If you didn't like it then just say so, bweeeh!"

How childish.

Walking over to the jumbled pile of clothing and accessories, I dug through it, shuffling through the pile, discreetly while others are busy to themselves. After finding several interesting pieces of clothing, I brought them with me to the fitting room.

"So, how are we going to solve the problem?" Yukinoshita suddenly brings up the topic that everyone knew is going to be discussed at a certain point today.

Hayama answers her after a few seconds of hesitation. "I think Rumi-chan needs to talk with the other girls."

"Rumi-chan might get beaten down if she tries, though." Yui brings up a very likely conclusion to Hayama's suggestion.

"Then what if she talks to them one at a time?"

"Nothing will change." Glasses girl says. "They might play and act nice while she's around, but they'll act the same when they're behind her back. Girls are a lot scarier than you think, Hayato-kun."

"Seriously, that's like, totes scary…"

Yukinoshita rolls her eyes. "Hm? Where's Uzumaki-kun?"

"Right here."

Stepping outside the fitting room, I flicked a strand of blonde away from my face. I walked to rejoin the others in the conversation, but I couldn't help but notice the stares, hanging jaws and popping eyeballs they're directing at me.

Blinking, I asked, "What?"

Yukinoshita, hell, all of the girls in the room are raising a shaking finger towards my direction.

But it was Yui who pointed out the obvious.

"Y-Y-You're in a maid's uniform Maki!"

I blinked again. "So? What about it?" I furrowed my eyebrows as if I'd just heard the strangest fact I've ever heard in my whole and immortal life.

"B-B-B-But y-y-you look SO good on it, Onii-chan!" Komachi screams out in outrage.

"Aww, thank you." I leaned forward to pat her head.

My blonde twin French braid styled wig is rather itchy, did they wash this thing?

I fiddled around my attire, twirling around and checking the mirror for anything that seems odd. "The skirt's a little bit too short for my taste," they went down to my lower knee, "but it's probably because I'm tall." Lifting it up, I tried showing it to them. "See?"

The navy blue and white maid uniform is the cleanest thing out of anything that was in that pile of raggedy junk. It's also the only thing that isn't too small for me to wear. The navy blouse in itself is not too tight, but it would be better if the sleeves are less frilly. The white long apron fits nicely when placed over the blouse, looks like it was tailored properly. There is also a pair of fitting black knee socks and surprisingly, the dress shoes that I found fits perfectly on me! The white frilly headband is resting on my wig; it also acts as a band to keep the wig from getting messy. **(6)**

"U-U-U-Uzumaki-kun! Wh-Wh-Why are your boobs bigger than mine?!" Yukinoshita cries in outrage, rather out of character for her.

"Hey, you said it, not me." I pressed the two mounds that are bulging on my chest. I understand her reaction; it'd be weird for them if I suddenly sprout out a pair of boobs. "But these are actually silicone pads stitched into the clothing itself!" I grasped and fondled the fake pads as I'm saying this. "They're realistic," stepping forward, I grabbed Yukinoshita's hand and pressed them on my chest, "see?"

Yukinoshita reels back, before she slowly crumbles to the floor, a cloud of storm floating above her head.

"Uh… Yukinoshita, you okay?"

"How… how can he…?!" it seems that the fake-blonde needs to close her mouth before a fly flies in.

"Ufufufufufufufu… you're perfect material Uzuki-kun… perfect slash material… ah… I can see it already. A trap cosplay ecchi scene… mwehehehehahaha!" uwaaah… a deranged pervert. A deranged perverted glasses BL loving rotten girl.

"Anyway, Hayama!"

"Yes!" he squeaks out upon hearing me call me his name.

Weird.

"I overheard your conversation with the flatty over there who looks like she's about to dig a hole all the way to Norway." I nudged my head to the person I'm referring to. "It seems that you have a plan."

He told me about his plan of convincing Rumi to talk it out with her 'friends'.

"Are you even literate, man?!" I marched up to him, invaded his private personal space and grabbed him by the collar with face inches away from mine. "Do you even know what you're going to do?!"

"…no…" oh quit it with the small squeaky voice already!

I dropped him to the floor and his girlfriend cries 'Hayato!'. Walking away, I walked towards the table and sat on top of it, one leg dangling off the edge while I hold the other one close to me cheeks, letting it rest there.

I swear I heard all of them gulp at the same time.

Why, is this clothing too stimulating for them?

"That won't do… just talking won't do." I sighed loudly, shaking my head as if I'm disappointed of their inability of coming up with a decent plan. "Tell me, everyone, do you know how make an entire group of people listen to you without them questioning every single thing that you do?"

Well, aside from dressing up in a maid's uniform while looking good in it, that is.

They shake their heads.

I raised one hand up with my palm opened.

Then, I clenched it into a fist.

"Fear."

Ah, yes, fear.

"Fear?" they repeat in confusion.

"Yes, fear." I nodded, lowering my fist. "Fear. The catalyst of human productivity. The ultimate solution of every single government in this world. A tool that can only be used in a certain but creative way… that is fear. And I, know, fear."

I smiled. And they swallowed air at the exact same time. That Tobe-dude's even loosening his collar.

"During tonight's test of courage, I will use fear to solve our Rumi-chan's problem." I shifted my sitting pose, lifting my right leg so that I could place it over my left one, crossing it over the other. With both hands on my right leg's knee, I maintain my smile. "You guys won't have to do anything, really, anything but one thing."

"That is?" Hayama asks after a few seconds of hesitation.

My smile widens.

"I'm glad you asked."

* * *

The night is not as cold as it would be during spring. Summer makes it warm and borderline comfortable for anyone to enjoy the night. The sky is poked with stars that are not shy to show themselves. Summer is considered to be one of the best seasons to do stargazing, so it's not strange if the stars are more defined than usual, especially if you're far from the city like this camping village where there are no city lights to outshine them.

But the scenery of quiet forest, dark corners and rustling trees are anything but comforting. Instead, it does the exact opposite.

It keeps you on edge, the lack of lighting tampers your visual senses causing your other senses such as hearing and touch to be keener than usual. The fact that you're supposed to walk through the woods with only a flashlight as your source of comfort is questionable in itself, regardless of the fact that you're travelling in a group. The deeper you venture through the forest's path, the more conscious of your surroundings you become. Your steps are getting slower, yet your heart pace is beating quicker. You'll start to notice things that aren't even there, like a movement from the corner of your eyes.

The purpose of a test of courage is to, as the name suggests, test one's courage. The checkpoints, ridiculous tasks and funny jumpscares usually staged in the event are just accessories. A real test of courage involves no more than a willing participant, a goal and one source of light to guide the way. The concept of putting people dressed as 'ghosts' or 'monsters' are just people's way of making things more exciting and fun for others to enjoy.

However, this particular test of courage is not going to be like that.

"Alright, group… one, you go first." Komachi smiles, handing a girl a flashlight. "Good luck, you need it."

"Hey, aren't we supposed to be told about meeting someone at a checkpoint or something?" one of the girls asked.

But the cat themed girl walks away quietly, as if ignoring her question.

"Huh, what a weird person…"

"Yeah, who wears cat ears anyway?"

"Her, apparently."

The four girls laugh together like the good friends they are.

But a lonely and downtrodden girl walks a few paces behind the group, holding on to her pink digital camera by her lonesome.

The group of five begins their journey into the dark, dim and desolate forest path. After they have fully disappeared within the darkness, the space around the path's entrance distorts, bending out of shape and then folding upon itself like fabric that's about to be woven.

* * *

" _Leave those girls to me." I smiled. "The rest of you, proceed with the event as planned."_

 _Komachi is the first one to question me. "Eh? What are going to do, Onii-chan?"_

 _I maintained my smile. "I'm going to teach a couple of brat what it means to be friends."_

" _What do you-_

" _I said, I. Am. Going. To. Teach. A. Couple. Of. Brat. What. It. Means. To. Be. Friends." I tilted my head, still with the smile on my face. "Mmkay~?"_

* * *

It's… difficult to explain, but supposedly you have a power that could control the free-will of all the people around you… what would you do? A normal answer might be one of these answers: 'I'll use it to make them obey me', 'I'll use it to change the world around me' or even 'I won't use such a scary power'. There are no wrong answers, just opinionated ones.

It has been… half an hour after their journey through the forest, but they still have not encountered anything or anyone at all. They are starting to get nervous, scared even with how quiet things have been. They are slowly becoming more aware of their isolation, their eyes are gradually adjusting to the dark and their sense of loss finally confirmed. Huddled together, at least four of them are, they walk baby steps forward. They can't go back. There's no way back.

"Ne…Yokko… let's go back… it's scary out here…"

"Y-Yeah, I think you're right Mori… let's go back."

The four girls decided that it's best for them to turn back and return back to camp.

"Psst, hey, Yokko."

"What is it, Hitomi?"

"What about her? You know, Rumi."

"Her? What about her?"

"I… don't know… we've been walking for a long time and she hasn't said anything… it's creepy."

"She _is_ creepy, let her be creepy, we're getting back now anyway."

The group retraces their steps back to where they believed the began, but seconds turned to minutes and minutes turned to hours… a total of an hour has passed and the girls are now aware that something is totally wrong. They made their way back and walked about the same distance as they did forward, so… why do they still have no idea where are they at right now? The moon hangs above their head like some sort of stationary celestial dish. The stars are… twinkling, but they never reappear.

After ten more minutes of pointless walking, one of them breaks.

"Grrrrr! Where the hell are we right now?! We're lost! The map they gave us is useless so how are we supposed to go back now?!"

"Calm down Yokko…" pulling out the map that her friend is referring about, she reads it carefully after shining some light into it. "But… we've been walking on a straight line after all this time! W-We can't be lost!"

"Shut it Yuka-chan!" another girl snaps. "This is your fault that we're lost in the middle of this creepy forest!"

"My fault?! What do you mean my fault?! It was you who was holding the map and navigating our route before I do! Don't you dare place the blame on me, Hitomi!"

"G-Guys! We need to stop fighting and figure a way out of this place already! It's dark, creepy and scary! I think saw something move earlier from over there!"

"Gaaaaah!" the leader, Yokko, screams out in frustration. "Shut up Mori-chan! You're always acting like you're the nice girl of the group. 'look at me, I'm a princess, look at me, I'm cute!' well you're not! You're just annoying and everyone hates your fake attitude when you try to act all nice with Satoshi-kun!"

"Y-Y-Y-Yokko-chan… why are you saying su-su-such mean things to me…?" unable to hold back the tears, she begins crying.

"You're gonna cry? Hah! Cry then! That's the only thing you're good at, anyway. Hmph!"

The group came to a halt, stopping while they resume their banter.

Away from them, a single, lonely girl, stands while clutching her digital camera with a complicated look on her face. She is clutching on the camera with so much force that she could probably break some of the buttons or even damage the LCD screen of the camera. Her small shoulders shiver and tremble, but not due to the harsh wind. With the commotion that's happening in front of her and them being lost, it's amazing that no one's searching after them.

 _'No… something is wrong…'_ she thinks. _'Something is definitely wrong. I remembered the path, we walked a straight line, we should've been able to return with no trouble… so… how did we get lost…?'_

 **"Do you want to know how?"**

Looking around, Rumi's eyes dart around the area. She observes the trees, the sky, foliage and even ground. Her eyes are wide and she actually flinches from hearing the sudden voice.

Rumi's weird and sudden behavior is noticed by Yokko, who's annoyed and irritated from her already worse mood. "And you! What the hell are you doing here anyway?! Why did they put you into our group!?"

"N-N-No! I-I-I… eh…!"

"You… you're looking around earlier, do you know the way out of here? You do, huh?" at this point, things got physical.

"Kyaa!"

Yokko pushes Rumi to the ground without much resistance. She glares at Rumi as if she has all the rights to do so. "It's you who lead us all to this place, huh?"

"What?! No!" Rumi denies, quickly shaking her head. "I wasn't even leading us!"

"I don't care!"

Rumi doesn't get it. Why? Why are they blaming her? Why now when they've just blamed each other earlier?

 **"It's because they're irrational, Rumi… they've lost their sense of reasoning and if blaming others can reassure them that they're okay, then they'll gladly do it without hesitation."**

 _'Who are you?! Where are you?! What do you want?!'_ Rumi tries to ask verbally, but only mental words come out.

 **"Me? Oh I'm just a nobody, Rumi-chan. Where I am at is not important and as to what I want…"**

Something rustled past the group, startling them.

"KYAAAAAA!"

 **"I want to play."**

"W-W-W-W-W-WHAT WAS THAT?!"

"Uwaaaaaaaaaaaah! Mommy! Daddy!"

"I-I-I-Is someone there!?"

"No… N-N-N-No… please…"

Rumi stares at the helpless wreck that are her oppressors are now. They're so… useless. Divided. Broken.

 **"Do you see it now, Rumi? Do you see how ugly humans can become? All it takes is a little challenge and they'll fall down like jenga, very amusing don't you think?"**

 _'No it's not! Don't disturb us anymore! Get away!'_

 **"Kukuku… what are you going to do, Rumi-chan~? These people are the same people who hurt you, you know. They deserve to be punished…"**

 _'B-But…'_

The wind picked up, as if there's a small vacuum of its own right where they're at. The girls shriek and scream, crying at this point.

 **"But what? Don't you feel good now, Rumi-chan? Their cries… their screams of terrors… don't you enjoy them? Don't you think they deserved it?"**

 _'I… I… I…!'_

 _"We hate you!"_

" _Look at her, the loner, so creepy…"_

" _She's wearing the same shirt as yesterday, what is she, poor?"_

Rumi cradles herself into a ball, hugging her knees. But no matter how hard the wind blows, how loud the leaves and branches rattles, the voice won't stop talking.

 **"It feels nice doesn't it, Rumi-chan? They deserve it after all, after what they've did to you."**

 _'But… but… I did it too! I also ignored people!'_

 **"But that's only because you were forced, right? You really didn't want to ignore people, right? You're not wrong, Rumi-cha**

"I AM WRONG!"

Her voice echoes, despite the commotion that's happening around.

"I did the same thing they did a few months ago, I also ignored other kids from my class because they're different from me! I thought that it'd look cool, I thought that I'd get some friends if I did that! But it was already too late when I realized what I've been doing was wrong! Even still…! Even still…! I still ignored people and isolated them, mocked them, bullied them, ostracized them, pretended as if they didn't exist, talked behind their backs, I did everything these girls did to them! It's bad, I know, but what can I do?! I'm hopeless, I am weak, I only wanted to fit in and make some friends that'll last me an entire six year through elementary! I want friends, even if they're fake, even if they bully me, even if they ignore me, I want friends!"

The wind picks up, causing the situation to become even more erratic.

But Rumi stands, unaffected by it all. Even if her tears are dropping like raindrops…

"But it's amazing how I could say all these things when I've already given up, right?! It's funny how much I regretted for feeling and being self-miserable, self-loathing and downright regretful after everything I just did, right?! I don't want forgiveness, I don't want or need that, all I want is to enjoy the rest of my elementary school life with a few sincere and honest friends! They don't have to have the same likes as I do, they don't have to be girls, they don't have to be smart, they don't even have to be the same age!"

Aww… looks like I was found out already.

"If you're hearing this, I know you're listening, so please! Please…! Grant me my wish!... just this one…!" Rumi falls to her knees, saying,

"…Naruto…"

Them's the magic words.

The wind slows down and everything is at a still. Silence. Total silence. The only sound heard are the sound of crying, whimpering and coughing. Rumi looks around through groggy eyes, she looks up and… and…

"…is that… a shooting… star?" she whispers.

It was fast, but she definitely saw it.

A shooting star…

A small smile forms on her face. Then she faints, drifting off to sleep, followed by the rest of her friends.

Stepping out of my place in the shadows, I walked over to the purple wearing girl who I have been watching for the entire time tonight. Smiling fondly, I squatted down and placed a palm on her forehead. Several of my clones are doing the same thing to the rest of the girls. Closing my eyes, I released my breath after breathing in. I tapped her forehead.

"I'm proud of you."

I really am.

Sadly, she won't remember most of what happened.

Flaring my chakra, I uttered,

" **Kioku Shohi no Jutsu." (7)**

My palm glows gold and then it disappears in a flicker of gold.

I smiled, whilst poking Rumi on her forehead. "See, it wasn't so hard, right? You need to learn how to be honest with yourself and realize that you're significant. No matter how selfish your wish is, regardless of how huge and inconsiderate it is, it's still a wish that deserves at least one shot of being granted."

"But sadly, not all of us get to have our wish granted, Rumi… some of us have to make our wish a reality through our own effort. Not all of us have the privilege of getting our wish granted. God can be cruel sometimes… but never lose hope. Even if you think you're alone, it won't hurt to rely on someone. I admire the way you're considerate of others… your hard to approach attitude was so that you won't involve anyone in your problem… you sacrificed yourself knowingly, regardless of the consequences."

Stroking her face, I came to realize just how fragile kids are.

Most kids are not supposed to eat and go through a day scrounging from the nearby dumpster to live.

Most kids are not supposed to have a grouchy, mean and powerful giant nine tailed fox inside their belly.

Most kids are not supposed to see their comrades, lovers, friends and family fall at the battlefield as they're trying to protect those precious to them.

Most kids… are not me.

I… forgot how kids are supposed to be because of my own unique circumstances. But, I'd be lying if I didn't see any similarities between us.

"Stay strong, little lady. Hope that you'll find a new beginning through this."

Snapping my fingers, my clones disappeared and I disappeared, along with the unconscious girls.

Problem: You will never change the world. You can change yourself. How will you change?

Correction: You face the world with all your might, standing tall and firm, like a persistent oak tree during a typhoon.

* * *

"So… you're telling me that they were alone out there in the woods, lost, with no means of returning while the rest of you did nothing to find them?!"

Boy… Hiratsuka-sensei sure is furious.

But thankfully, I managed to make her lay off the anger from the rest. Those kids were my responsibilities, after all.

"Basically, yes." I said. "But I managed to find them in the end, so it's all right, right?"

She socked me right in the gut.

And this time, it actually hurt.

"All right? ALL RIGHT?!" She shouts, her shout vibrating through the cabin's interior. "IT WOULDN'T BE ALL RIGHT IF ANYTHING HAPPENED TO THEM! YOU FOOLISH, IDIOTIC, DUMB, MORONIC, KNUCKLEHEADED, GOOD FOR NOTHING BLONDE!"

…yeah… I deserved all of that.

A few minutes of heavy breathing later, Hiratsuka-sensei lets out a very long sigh, the longest one I ever heard from her. She slumps back to her chair, cigarette nearly falling from the arm rest. "Do you know how worried we were when we heard that five of the kids weren't back yet at midnight?"

I did not answer. I'm treating it as if I'm being questioned by a commanding officer.

"The principal was so worried his asthma kicked in… what were they doing so far out from the course, anyway?"

"I gave them the wrong map, sensei."

She looks at me with a strong and hard glare.

I stood my ground.

"…this was a mess, Uzumaki. You're lucky that they're in one piece when you found them."

"Yeah, I guess."

"…and why the hell are you wearing a maid's uniform?"

"Beacause…. I look good in iiiiiit?"

She slaps her own face.

"Just… get out… I'm gonna need a lot of booze for this…"

Excusing myself, I exited Hiratsuka-sensei's cabin and went outside. Immediately, my cross dressing self is greeted by none other than our esteemed club president.

I walked a few steps, stopping until I was at an appropriate distance. She stares at me with owl like eyes, then she sighs.

"You're an idiot, Uzumaki-kun."

"I'm an idiot who make things work, Yukinoshita." you can call me the November man…

"I won't ask what you did back there to even… caused all of this… but… I just hope that Rumi-chan is fine with this."

I can't say for sure.

"Heh."

We walked together, side by side, towards where the others are at. Judging from the noises they're making, they're probably lighting up some fireworks. As soon as we arrived, Yukinoshita immediately joins Yui, lighting up a few light shows of her own. Me? I preferred sitting down on the steps nearby, just watching.

"Here."

Casting a glance at the red and silver canned drink I'm offered, I sighed, I have no other choice other than accepting it.

Hayama took the empty space beside me, opening his own can of cola.

I opened mine and took a quick sip.

Ah… nothing beats good old sugar, caffeine and tar mixed together and packed into a small can of diabetes.

As the others are having fun, lighting up fireworks, in front of us… we're both sitting here like an awkward gay couple who're about to plan about their marriage.

"Sorry that you didn't get to be the hero."

"Heh." Hayama laughs. "I was not trying to be the hero, I was just trying to do what I feel was right at the moment. I don't feel bad about it."

He sips from his can.

"But…"

Hm?

"I just remembered that when I was a kid… a situation that's… more or less the same as the one that Rumi-chan has to go through happened." He's smiling a very nostalgic smile. "I just stood back and watched the whole thing happened right before my eyes. I was too afraid to do anything. Too… shackled to do anything."

Hayama takes a chug from his can.

"Hey, I wonder how things would've turned out if we'd go to the same grade school."

I sip my drink. "You would have a very charming and exceptional classmate who'll ignore you all day."

"Haha, well, I think that things would turn out differently. But still… I don't think I would be able to become good friends with you, Uzumaki-kun." He smiles like what a certain pale faced, penis obsessed painter would do. "Just kidding."

"Heh." I scoffed.

"But… what did you do anyway, Uzumaki-kun?"

"I showed them what it means to be a real friend."

"To the point where they sleep?"

"Let's just say that I'm not a very good speaker."

"Hahaha, if only you'd speak as well as you dress." He crushes his can, and then standing up. "Oh, Yumiko's calling me, talk to you later, Uzumaki-kun."

"Hn." I sipped the final volume of my drink.

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

My eyes widened.

"Did he just-?!"

* * *

The next morning, we arrived at school in our respective transportation. I'm no longer wearing a maid uniform and seeing as I slept through the entire trip home, I'm feeling totally fine at the moment. The same couldn't be said for Hiratsuka-sensei and Yukinoshita, sadly. Hiratsuka-sensei had to clean up the mess that I made last night. I blame my non-existent talent for casting high leveled genjutsu. If my knowledge of genjutsu was deeper, I would've been able to cast a time altering illusion last night.

Everyone wouldn't notice a thing happening, but oh well, what's done is done. That just means I have to seriously delve into genjutsu from now on.

As for Yukinoshita… let's just say that she lost a bet.

A bet that might or might not have involved me winning against her on the beauty pageant last night. She's still salty about that… if I'm not mistaken, that Yumiko girl is still salty at me too.

It's a good thing that Hayama's car directly went home. Oh God, it would've been awkward if he's here…

We debarked from the car, taking out our respective luggage, which wasn't a lot for me since I only brought my bag with me.

"Well done, men! But remember that summer break does not end until you've reached your doorstep!" Hiratsuka-sensei tells us. "Be careful on your way home. All right dismissed."

Picking my bag, I told Komachi, "Komachi, we're going to shop on the way home."

"Aye, aye sir!" she salutes me as if I'm a navy captain. "Why don't you go and come with us, Yukinoshita-san?"

Timing, Komachi…

Your timing couldn't have been more perfect. A black limo with a strangely familiar silver ornament on the front hood parks right in front of the school's compound. A well-dressed man who appears to be in his late forties debarked from the driver's seat, walks all the way around the car to open the door to the passenger's seat.

"Oh no."

Oh no indeed Yukinoshita. It's your sister.

The older, beautiful and mature Yukinoshita emerges from the passenger door, waving at us with a megawatt smile. "Hi there Yukino-chan!"

I feel sorry for you, Yukinoshita.

"N-Nee-san…"

Her heels are going 'tik-tok' as she scampers over towards us with the same smile on her face. "Yukino-chan, you haven't been home in ages! I got so worried I came to pick you up!"

Bitch please, we all know how this is going to turn out.

At this particular moment, she chooses that it's a good idea to finally notice my presence. Her body spins around, as if she's a swivel chair, and faces me. "Oh, Uzumaki-kun!"

"Eugh." I did not hesitate voicing my displeasure of seeing her face.

"Are you two on a date? Huh? Huh? Huh?"

This woman really does not know the meaning of personal spaces. I doubt the other rich folks know what common sense is.

"No… no we're not… no…"

Useless, my words fell on deaf ears.

"U-Um… Maki doesn't like it if you do that!"

Even I was surprised.

Yui pulls me away from the older Yukinoshita. Looks like that stupid horoscope was wrong after all!

Of course, this only means that she has another target to focus on. "Are you… Uzumaki-kun's girlfriend?"

"N-No!" Yui shakes her head vehemently.

"Then who might you be?"

"I-I'm just his classmate, Yuigahama Yui."

"Really?"

"Really!"

"I'm glad, I actually thought you were Yukinoshita-chan's rival or something, judging by the way you acted earlier!" this woman's shift in attitude is way quicker than a race car driver's gear shifting movement. "Don't lay a finger on Uzumaki-kun, alright? He's Yukino-chan's!"

"Like hell I am/Like hell he is."

"See? They're so in sync!"

Déjà motherfucking vu….

"Haruno, cut it out."

Thank you, sensei, you just helped us out here.

"Eh…? Shizuka-chan, is that you? Oh my God, it is you!"

…or maybe not.

"Could you quit calling me that?"

"Sensei…" I asked. "You know this looney?"

"Hawawawa Uzumaki-kun, you're so mean to me! Yukino-chan, your boyfriend's so mean to me!" I feel your pain Yukinoshita, I really do, but even I wouldn't dare do anything about that woman.

"She's a former student of mine…"

"Doesn't that mean…" you're older than you look? Is what I wanted to say but I don't think I want to re-experience death again anytime soon.

"Okay, Yukino-chan, it's time to go." Yukinoshita's sister is walking back to the limo. "Mom's waiting for you."

She might as well just said, 'would you kindly?' to go along with that. **(8)**

Yukinoshita looks… helpless.

She's completely different from the brave and somewhat persistent bitch that she usually was.

"I thank you for the offer of invitation, but I am very sorry. I cannot go with you."

"O-Okay…"

Flicking a strand of her hair towards us, she turns her back with a brief but seemingly sluggish spin.

"Farewell."

It's… interesting to note of the word she used to bid adieu there.

As they say goodbye is not forever,

But a farewell usually takes longer…

"…Maki… that limo…"

"Hm, I was sure it was a sedan that hit me back then."

"No… it was definitely a limo…"

"Really? I don't know the difference between the two, really…"

I lied. I do know.

After all, not all limo have that one particular ornament on the front of their hood.

I didn't see Yukinoshita again that summer.

 **1: System of a Down – Chop Suey. Listen to it, you'll get the joke.**

 **2: I seriously don't.**

 **3: A nod to another famous and well known light-novel originated series, My Little Sister Can't Be This Cute.**

 **4: Hakurei Reimu from Touhou Project.**

 **5: Kirisame Marisa from Touhou Project.**

 **6: Izayoi Sakuya from Touhou Project. Oh and the pad silicone joke is also a running gag within the Touhou fanbase.**

 **7: Google translated that shit, not gonna lie. I typed in 'Memory Consuming' and replaced the katakana for the word 'Memory' (** **メモリ** **) with kioku (** **記憶** **) which also means memory. So Kioku Shohi no Jutsu roughly means 'Memory Consuming Technique'. Sorry if it's cringey.**

 **8: Ever played BioShock? No? Play it. Now.**

 **Guys, I wrote this one chapter for about eight hours straight ever since last night. I started at around 22:00 at night and then I finished this at around 6:40 in the morning. Don't worry, I had a lot of caffeine. Forgive me for spelling errors and excuse me while I pass out on my keyboard. Kwmnrbnk bh df bp;weknm sngk;3UTY03**

 **P.S: No, I don't write Yaoi, so don't worry, you homophobes.**


	9. A Whirpool of Change

**Hullo Hullo, I just want to say that you guys are awesome for reviewing this story. Doesn't matter what it is; praises, flames, suggestions, critics, I don't discriminate; I love all kinds of reviews, all kinds.**

 **Remember, this is only a fanfiction. No need to get yourself triggered if you find something you don't like. It's as simple as clicking back and never read this story again, if you don't like with what's happening.**

 **Now, the real twist starts here.**

* * *

"…you…"

Her voice is restrained, threatening to burst.

"Do you know what you've just done?"

But her appearance now betrays her tone. Her tone sounds contained, restrained, as if she's keeping the demons that will escape her mouth if she's lacking in self-control. Fortunately for me, I know that she's fully capable of controlling herself. Her lips are quivering, despite the piercing glare that she's sending my way.

I stared at her with a mixture of… well, a mixture of nothingness in particular. Blankly staring at her seems to be doing nothing but agitating her already thin fuse… which is not a really good thing, mind you.

It's already 6:30. I should've left her alone last night… bringing her back to my place was a mistake.

Now I'm paying for it.

"…no." I said, giving her a hollow shrug of my shoulders. Then, I crossed my arms. "Care to tell me what I just did?"

Her lips fell to a thin, flat line that I thought was rather out of character for her. To me, she's always been reliable and predictable. For once, I'm lost as to what she's thinking, at the moment.

"This… this thing… it's… it's…"

She slams her spoon on my dining table.

"IT'S FREAKING DELICIOUS!"

…there goes the chopsticks…

"It's so delicious I can't even believe that my tongue isn't melting from all the flavors! The saltiness, richness and thickness of the broth… it's perfect… this thing is the only definition of perfection that I'm willing to accept on earth." Yo, yo, calm down, no need to look all serious here.

"Chill down, woman." I advised her while folding my apron so that I could store it inside the cabinet later. "It's just food, no need to get so serious about it…"

I mean, I know that it's good but…

" _It's just food?!" It's just food_ you say?!"

She closes the distance between me and her. And for someone who's not a shinobi, I have to say, it's impressive. She pulls me by my collar, forcing me to stare right into her hazel brown eyes. You're, like, two heads shorter than me so don't be pulling me down like that, girl.

"O-Oi."

"It's not _just_ food, Uzuzu."

God, I forgot she gave me that nickname.

"That… this… this is the food of the Gods! No, it deserves to be more than God's food!" it's amazing how my neighbors are still okay with the constant noise or shouting that comes from my apartment. I don't mean _that_ kind of noise, mind you. Well, not _always_ anyways.

"This is simply perfection! The rich broth, the soft texture of the noodles and… and…!" her voice seems to have gone chirpier as a look of pure bliss melts her face, "the _tender, juicy_ sliced pork bellies… _hnnnnnnnnnnnngh_!" her body shivers, before she releases a final gasp of satisfaction. "Ramen is the best."

I nodded sagely. "You are a wise disciple, little grasshopper."

"Pfft! Hahaha! You're always funny, Uzuzu."

My face fell. "Don't call me that, please." It won't do much good to my already-rock-bottom reputation. "Call me by my name, dammit."

"Nah!" she sticks her tongue out at me, her left eye closed while her finger pulls down the eyelid of her right one. "I'll call you whatever I want, so, no. Mweeeh!"

I sighed. "Anyway, let's just go back to eating. The food will get cold." I'm hungry too, you know, and it's unfair because you got to do the first bite. I thought we were supposed to be on this together, girl?

"Oh, right! Sorry, sorry! Let's eat again!" I chuckled at how quickly she returns to her seat. As sat on my own chair, she's already slurping her noodles as if it's the only food on the planet. Well, it's not like I can blame her. She has embraced the greatness of ramen, even praising it as something that transcends divinity. "Mwaaaah~! Dis ish swo ghooood!"

Picking up a paper towel from my breast pocket, I leaned forward to dab soup stain from her mouth, chin and cheek.

"H-Hey, Uzuzu! Ahm not a kid!"

"Right, right, but you sure do eat like one." After making sure that there's not a single stain of broth left on her mouth, or around it, I crumpled the paper napkin and threw it into the trashcan that's behind me placed near the wall.

"Oh! Nice throw, Uzuzu!"

"Hm."

I didn't respond to her calling me such annoyance, merely because at this point, I'm getting rather hungry too. As I dig into my ramen, I was filled with that familiar warmth that I always felt whenever I'm eating ramen. Aside from the fact that it's a very good and delicious food, ramen is also the very first real food that I ever tasted. Home cooked ramen, mind you, not instant ones. This and that are two different things. I remembered the memory like it was just yesterday.

Iruka-sensei was the one who treated me to my first ramen and from then onwards, I've been coming back to Ichiraku's every day. So, yeah, if you want to blame someone for my ramen addiction, you can go and blame a dead man.

The saltiness of salt, coupled with the heat that the ginger packs really goes well with the sweetness of freshly minced spring onions. The thickness and richness of the broth comes from the pork bones that took me two days to prepare, and it was definitely worth the wait. Now I know why Teuchi-jiisan and Ayama-nee were so happy whenever I'd slurp my ramen greedily. And now, seeing her doing the same thing that I would do when I was younger brings appreciation and satisfaction to my heart.

"…ey, Uzuzu! You're dozing off!"

I blinked. "Sorry, what was that?" I asked.

She sighs and I can truly sense the disappointment in it. "I was calling you for, like, four times and you're just there staring at your ramen with a faraway look on your face! I know your ramen is delicious, it really is," aww, thank you, sweetie, "but isn't it a bit rude to ignore someone? I mean, we talked about this a long time ago!"

Did we now?

"Oh yeah." I chuckled, closing my eyes for a brief while before opening them again. "Maybe it's because you're calling me with a name that I'm not particularly fine with, did the thought ever occur to you?"

I only said that as a means to tease her, but it seems that her habit of taking my words too far still remains.

"R-Really? O-Oh, I'm sorry… I won't call you that again then, Uzuz- I-I mean, Naruto…"

My teasing smile fades away, replaced by a far more appropriate expression. "I was just kidding, you can call me that." my tone dropped. "But not in public or near the people that I know."

"Eh, why?"

This dummy.

"It's embarrassing." I said flatly. I wasn't gonna lie to her. If I think that it's embarrassing, I'll say that it's embarrassing. "And I'm not 'someone' to you anymore." I stirred the broth with my chopsticks. "I'm just somebody who you used to know, now."

"…"

…gah. Naruto, you idiot. You dumb ass motherfucker, Naruto.

"W-W-What I meant to say is…" I coughed, regaining my composure so that I could explain what I really meant to her. "I don't… want people to misunderstand." I said it as slowly as I could, my voice trying not to sound too sincere or detached. But I doubted that it worked.

"Oh. So… you're seeing someone, Uzuzu?"

Her words come out as a small gasp. I almost missed them.

"No. Romantically, no." my shoulders sagged a little bit. "I realized that having a… proper relationship won't do me any good, not so soon at least." I straightened my back, my voice returning with confidence. "Right now, I'm committed to something else entirely."

"Oh? What is it?"

"…"

…hm.

What… is it…?

What is it that I'm committed to at the moment…?

Time? No, surely, no. I have an eternity worth of time, hell, probably even more.

Pleasure? No. I promised myself to not let earthly pleasure be my main driving force. So that can't be it.

Then… what is it?

Looks like I know what I'll be contemplating about for the next few months or so.

"…" I leaned forward, prompting her to lean forward too, as if she's expecting me to whisper out the answer to her.

"Itai!"

But what she received was not an answer.

You thought it was an answer? Hah! It was me, a finger flick to your forehead! **(1)**

"That's a secret~"

Thank you for being my instructor, Kakashi-sensei. You're the best. You were a pervert though, but you're one of the best perverts I've ever known.

"Auuu… what's with that cruelty, Uzuzu! Man, you've changed! You used to be quiet, you are still a jerk though, but at least a quiet one!" she exclaims, glaring at me while rubbing her glowing forehead. Oh, I think I flicked her too hard judging by how red the mark that I left is.

My smirk returns. In response to her accusation, I tilted my head whilst resting my chin on an opened palm. "Have I? Well, you're the first person to tell me that."

Still rubbing her forehead, she asks. "Oh, really?"

Well, duh. "You're the only person from my middle school that I still keep in contact with."

"Well duh." She read my mind. "I mean, I _was_ your girlfriend after all."

My spoon stops just a millimeter from getting dipped back into the broth. I looked at her, snorting. "Oh yeah, you were."

"Oi! What's with that nonchalant tone? Man, you're like, twice the jerk that you were, Uzuzu."

Gathering a spoonful of soup, I sipped the pool of broth slowly, but not before winking at her.

"What's with that wink, you're disgusting, creepy, blondie…"

I snorted again.

"You dated this disgusting, creepy blonde, Orimoto, deal with it."

Instead of getting angry, mad or insulted; she merely smiled.

"Yeah, you're right."

* * *

Summer break's almost over, in fact, it's more or less over for me.

After the trip to Chiba Village recreation grounds, I've been doing nothing but lounging around town alone with no one to accompany me. the field trip ended right at the middle of summer break, that left me quite some time left before school starts. Ah, but I was not entirely alone, I suppose. My cute little (un)related little sister occasionally visits my apartment from time to time and I also dropped by the publisher's office to meet with the others. You could call them co-workers, I suppose.

So, yeah, ever since Chiba Village ended, my summer break's pretty much the same when it started.

Until Orimoto called.

I did not switch my cell phone number, I still used the same one that I used back in high school, so it's not that weird for her to be able to call me.

But why?

Orimoto… _was_ my girlfriend. Yes, I _dated_ her. I could vividly remember how we ended up dating; it's kind of anticlimactic now that I'm thinking about it.

Oh, shit, I forgot that reminiscing certain events will trigger a flashback scene. Ugh. Carry on.

* * *

 **Four years ago, Naruto, second year of middle school**

* * *

" _Uhm… who are on today's duty schedule?"_

 _This old man… even I remember that and I'm waaaaaaaaaay older than you're supposed to be._

 _I was sitting on my place, near the window, on the far left edge of the classroom. Cliché, huh?_ _ **(2)**_

 _As usual, no one's willing to answer the teacher's question right away because this generation's just like that. But, in the end, our class representative stood from her seat, answering the teacher's question dutifully._

" _Orimoto-san and Uzumaki-san are on today's duty schedule, Kawauchi-sensei."_

… _damn you, class rep._

 _I can already hear the whispering starting already. Of course, of course. It's not a secret that my peers… do not have the best opinion about me, because of a particular reason, but it's not like I care about them. And this Orimoto fellow, who's he or she or attack helicopter anyway?_ _ **(3)**_

 _My keen eyes landed on a group of girls, whispering and huddling about a few blocks away from my seat. Three of the four girls are whispering to one of the girls at the same time. Ah, so that's Orimoto. Looks like her friends are warning her about me. I see nothing strange with that._

" _Ah, is that so? Then let's begin today's lesson immediately."_

 _Aaaaaaaaaand it's time for me to sleep._

 _School's ended and I'm just about to leave my classroom, but I was stopped, see._

" _Hey, you're Uzumaki Naruto, right?"_

 _I halted my walk. I mean, why couldn't I? Someone, a girl nonetheless, was actually speaking to me. Judging by tone and voice, it's not a teacher._

" _So what if I am?" I asked, without turning back to face her._

" _Eeeeh? Can't you even face me when you're talking? So rude…"_

 _This time, I turned to face her. "Hmph, you're the rude one here for not introducing yourself first."_

 _Her mouth opens, her face shell-shocked. Then, she laughs._

 _My smirk drops. "What?"_

" _Ahahaha! Ahahaha! N-No, it's just, ahahaha!" she's just laughing._

 _That day, after a very long time, I felt confused. I've always been good in reading people. But I wasn't able to figure out why this girl is laughing at me as if I'd just perform a manzai right in front of her._ _ **(4)**_

" _S-Sorry, ahaha… sorry. It's just that, your attitude, it's refreshing." She's stopped her laughing, but the smile on her face is still present as ever._

 _Refreshing? I fail to understand what she means by that. And even if it was, why laugh?_

 _She walks forward towards me. I noticed that she's not carrying her bag with her. Is she not going home? "Anyway, what are you thinking ditching your responsibilities, mister?"_

" _I'm sorry, what?"_

 _Her smile turns bossy. "If you're sorry, then go back to class and help me arrange the tables."_

 _Wait… oh. Oh._

 _She must've noticed the realization on my face._

" _Yes, it's me, Orimoto Kaori, the one who you're supposed to help cleaning the classroom with." She says to me in a very sarcastic manner that even I found it detestable._

 _I already don't like her. She's proven to be annoying._

" _Anyway, get back to class, or else I'll go tell sensei that you ditched duties." After giving me one final look with her smile, she waltzes back to class, whistling happily._

 _I could only stand there, shocked. Surprised._

 _Perhaps amazed, even._

"… _that chick… who does she think she is…" I muttered._

 _I could've ditched her along with my duty as a duty-student right there by ignoring her threat of telling sensei about my absence. But… something compelled me to stay and return back to class. I didn't know what compelled me that time but I know that it started a very weird, and… unexpected relationship with Orimoto. And when I meant unexpected, I totally meant it. Everyone, at least few of those who did, that were watching us would give the both of us weird looks. Of course, most of their contempt would be directed at me. They were just looking at Orimoto, thinking, why on God's green earth would she associate herself with someone like me._

 _And before I knew it, she's already a parasite to me._

" _Yo, Uzumaki, I'm borrowing your textbook!"_

" _Uzumaki, I'm gonna be late, tell sensei for me please!"_

" _Hey, Uzuzu, I'm borrowing some cash. I forgot my wallet. Hehe."_

 _Yeah… her annoyingness level jumped from, like, twenty to a hundred and eleven real quick._

 _It didn't help that we're in the same class, too. Every time class or homeroom ended, she'd walk over to my table and make conversations with me. And every time she'd do that, everyone would start whispering and talking to themselves. I knew that Orimoto noticed it, but I didn't bring the topic up, if she's fine with it. This continued until mid-semester, and during the start of the second semester, where we'd usually get our new seat arrangements, she became even more annoying because her seat was directly in front of mine._

 _And then, one day, she asked me out._

" _Hey, wanna try dating?"_

 _We were sitting on the bench, watching the soccer club practicing. The sun's about to set, tinting the sky with a beautiful orange and purple-ish hue._

" _Sure."_

" _Oh, you're cool?" I remembered her reaction to my quick and nonchalant reply._

" _Why not? I pity the guy you'll date, might as well save him the trouble."_

" _Ha ha ha. How kind of you, Uzuzu."_

" _I'll stop being kind if you continue to call me that."_

" _Heh, like hell. You're just a big softie at heart anyway, I don't know why you're keeping up this 'bad delinquent' type of character."_

 _I remember snorting to her statement. "I'm not keeping a character up. And I'm only a softie when it comes to animals, so don't try to misunderstand things."_

" _Eh, sure, sure."_

" _Wow, I can feel the sincerity in your voice, Orimoto."_

" _Sure, Uzuzu."_

 _And that's how we ended up dating, I guess?_

* * *

 **Present**

* * *

Ah, my middle school life would've made a very interesting work of fiction.

…nah, it'd just be a very shitty and poorly written fanfiction, I'm sure of it.

Anyway, things got awkward after our… 'Break up'. If you could even call it that… but that's a story for another time, I'm not gonna spill my heart out so soon. Especially when the girl's currently lounging on my couch playing her PSP.

Standing and watching her laze around on MY couch in MY apartment, I cannot help but feel a little disappointed. It's as I have another lazy, but cute, little sister who I spoil a little bit too much. But I don't particularly dislike it or anything.

"Haah… don't you have, you know, better things to do other than disturbing the last days of my summer break, Orimoto?" I asked, making sure that my tone is as flat as it could get. "You have friends, right?"

"I do have friends, unlike you, I try to make one." Was that a bite at me? If so, then I feel sorry for you but it wasn't deep enough. "But we'd do this every time, though, right? I'd sit like this on your room, playing handheld console, reading manga or light novels or whatever while you're preparing lunch or dinner or whatever."

When I was still in middle school, I still lived in the orphanage. But it was a nice place and the orphanage mother allowed us to bring our friends home from school. I don't talk much to any of the other orphans back there, simply because most of them were kids who were younger than me. However, I did help around. A lot, even. I'd watch the place when the orphanage was out doing errands, I watched over the brats over there and even did chores. And Orimoto, when we were still dating, would stop by and be like… this.

"Don't put two _'or whatever'_ in your sentences." I scolded her. "I swear… I'm not sure how you made it to high school with the kind 'a grades you're getting during middle school."

"Oi!" oh, that actually got her off her game. "My grades weren't that hopeless!" she objects rather fiercely.

But unfortunately for her, I dated her long enough for me to know just how bad she did during middle school.

"Oho? This coming from a girl who had to come to school almost every weekend so that she could do some make up tests is sooooo convincing."

"You're a jerk Uzuzuzuzuzuzuzuzu!"

"Now you're the jerk here." my name is not the sound of a phone buzzing.

Bzz!

Oh, speaking of buzzing phones, mine just buzzed a second ago.

Pulling out my phone from my pants' pocket, I looked at the sender ID. Oh, it's Yui. Let's see what she wants.

 **From: Yui-Yui (** **づ｡◕‿‿◕｡** **)** **づ** **gahama-yahallo~!  
To: Uzumaki Naruto  
Re: Please!**

Oh God, I forgot how cringey her caller ID is…

 **Maki! There's a summer festival tonight.  
Wanna go there? I wanna buy things for Komachi-chan  
since she's been taking care of Sable's these past few days.  
And I wanna see the fireworks too, so are you free?  
Plz come with me! ****｡** **◕‿‿◕** **｡**

Uh… now that she's mentioned it… Komachi told me that Yui's been asking her to look after her pet doge, Sable. I guess it's normal for her to want to show her thanks or some kind. Pulling up the keyboard on my phone, I quickly typed her a very quick reply.

 **K.**

What? I said a quick reply, right?

Bzz!

Oh, she replied already?

 **What's with that reply Maki?!  
That's, like, too short! Anyway, meet you in the evening,  
see you later on the station!  
(^_^** **)/**

That's even quicker than what I just sent!

Sighing, I'm reminded that I would need to get used to a very confusing air-headed girl known as Yuigahama Yui.

And whilst I was texting Yui, Orimoto notices my silence.

"Someone texted you?" she asks, pausing her game.

"Yeah. I'm going out later…" I said, pocketing my phone back. I walked to my TV where my PS4 is also at. Oi, woman, you touched my PS-chan didn't you?

"Oh, with who? A girl?"

"Yeah, actually."

…it's okay, PS-chan, daddy's here…

Hm?

"Orimoto?" I looked back, and noticed that she's dozing off. I figured she'd react more and reply with a snide and Orimoto-like response. "Oi, Orimoto? You're gonna lose that dungeon raid if you're dozing off y' knooooow~?"

"E-Eh what? No, all of my items are rare-wait… I paused my game! What the hell Uzuzuzu, y-you tricked me?!"

"Your fault for not paying attention." I swiftly countered with dash of sass.

"A-Anyway," I can hear the SFX of her game starting again, "so where're you going?"

"To the summer festival."

"Eeeh. You're going to the summer festival with a girl? Wow. _So much for not seeing someone at the moment._ "

Your tone is very dead right there, Orimoto-san.

"Nah, it's not like that." I waved her accusation. Crouching down, I used a nearby towel to brush the dust off my console. "She wants to buy some things from the festival to give to my lil' sister cuz she's been taking care of her dog lately." There, all clean. I gave it a nice pat. "Nothing else, 'rly."

"Heeeeeeeh." She hums. "I forgot you have a little sister…"

Well, now you remember. Well, it's not like it's unreasonable if you forgot, she's not related to me by blood anyway.

I turned around to look at her. I gave her a mean squint.

"Alright, fine, fine. I geddit." She pouts. "Sheesh."

Hm.

"So, who's the girl?"

You don't get it after all! Haah… "She's just a clubmate. We're in the same club."

"You're in a club? What club? The going home club?" **(5)**

I can sense the mockery in your tone, girl. "No, it's something called the Service Club."

"The Service Club?" she makes a very puzzled face. "What's it like?"

"Just as it sounds."

"Hmm… then, isn't it about time for you to go and meet this clubmate of yours? It's getting pretty late, after all." She says to me, not once leaving her game.

Looking at the clock in my apartment, it's already 4:29, almost evening. Oh, looks like she's taking into account the transportation period too, clever. Unexpected of her.

"You're thinking of something rude, aren't you, Uzuzu?"

"No~thing, I wasn't thinking of any~thing~…"

"…I'mma hit you Uzumaki."

"Heh." Sorry, but we already have a character for that role. "Anyway, I guess you're right. I guess I'll go and take a shower now."

"Uhuh, go do that. I'll… leave when I'm done clearing this dungeon floor."

"Good luck to you then."

Sucks to be you Orimoto, but that dungeon's boss is a level 100 Undead Sorcerer! You won't be able to defeat it until you're at least level 90!

* * *

"…she's late."

Or maybe I'm just early.

Glancing at the clock display on my phone, I was able to confirm the time. Again.

"It's… 5:41." I said to no one in particular. Maybe I should've come later? I arrived at exactly 5:00.

The station is crowded with people, mostly girls, dressed in traditional clothing so it's safe to say that the festival will be crowded by the time we get there. I feel no need to describe my state of clothing, but I decided to dress a little more… appropriately for events like this one. Besides, I have enough with people criticizing what I wear. Why? What's wrong with liking orange?!

Pocketing my phone inside my khakis, I tapped the tip of my sneakers like an impatient office worker waiting in line to get their paycheck.

Normally, I'd rather not stand in the middle of the crowd like this, since it'll make it harder for Yui to spot me. But there's a ticket machine behind me, so it's impossible to miss.

"Ah, Maki!"

See?

I saw her ascending from the flight of stairs, coming to full view. The first thing that I paid attention to was immediately her clothing. She's wearing, like most of the young ladies that are present, a yukata. But that's not the only thing. It's orange. Well, light orange, really, but that's like saying orange is actually a darker shade of yellow. It reminds me of tangerines. It has pink flower designs, something which I find suiting for her image. The obi, or sash, tied around her waist to keep her yukata fastened, shares the same color as mom's hair. There's also a small, thin ribbon tied around the sash as decoration. It reminded me of a certain, dear and beloved medic from a distant past. And, oh, she's wearing a neckla-

Ah.

She's… wearing it.

"S-Sorry I'm late Maki, it's crowded and we're not even at the festival yet! He he he…" she must have noticed me staring at her. "W-What's wrong?"

The corner of my lip tugs on itself, I shook my head at her question. "Nothing. It's just… your yukata."

"O-Oh! W-What's wrong with it?" she fidgets around, trying to find anything wrong. "Is it… bad on me?"

"No, no." I shook my again, with more feeling this time. "It's just… it's orange and orange is my favorite color." It's my aura, basically.

She giggles, for some reason.

"Hey, don't diss the orange."

"No, I'm not making fun of you or anything it's just… I can see why." She gestures to my clothing. Except the pants, my clothes, cardigan and shoes have at least orange on them. "Anyway, let's go already, we don't want to be late for the fireworks!" she grabs my wrist without warning and drags me towards the train platform.

"Oi, oi, don't pull, it's not like the festival's going away now."

"But we'll be late!"

You're mistaken, Yui. This is Japan, after all. Though it's not Tokyo, as in the city, not the entire prefecture, the trains here are almost never late. As soon as we reached the platform, the train arrives right on time. We embarked the train along with, like, a hundred other people. The seats are all occupied, so we have to stand. On the way there, naturally, we'd be silent. Japan has this very reserved culture where you don't speak or do anything annoying in public transports, especially trains. But I have no problem with that, in fact, it's one of the few things that I find very… charming about Japan.

You can get drunk in public, as long as you're not driving and causing any trouble. However, that doesn't mean that you should always get drunk and sloshed in public all day. Japanese people respects people's privacy and they expect you to respect theirs in return by not going around and doing stupid shit like sticking your chopsticks into your bowl of rice, playing your MP3 loudly inside the train or NOT slurping your ramen when eating it! Yeah, you heard that right; people actually WANT you to slurp your noodles over here.

Suck it, mom.

"Psst, Yui." I leaned in closer, so that I'm not breaking the iron rule of Japan of not speaking loudly and disturbing others in public transport.

"What is it?"

"I have to pee so, uh, can we like, go to the bathroom first when we arrive at the station?"

"Uwaaah, can't believe that you just said that you have to pee to a girl, Maki… you sure have no tact and a sense of delicacy."

I shrugged. Apparently, I have no tact.

Since the location of the festival's just on the other side of town, it's a pretty quick trip. I couldn't hold my bladder any longer so I immediately search for the toilet.

"If you're looking for the restroom, it's over there, Maki."

"Ah, thanks. Wait here."

"Sure."

I walked quickly, so that I could get this over and done with. I entered the men's restroom and, to my pleasure, it's empty. I used one of the urinals to do my business. After several refreshing seconds later, I washed my hands clean on the sink. Using the hot air dryer quickly, just enough to get the water particles off my skin, I used the sleeves to dry them completely. I went outside and retraced my steps back to Yui, but…

…she's not here.

I looked around. Then, I remembered that it's the 21st century. Bringing out my phone, I dialed her number. I waited on the first ring, the second, the third… the fourth…

Then,

"Ah, M-Maki?"

"Yui? Where are you?"

"I'm coming out of the restroom right now! I decided to go while you're away too."

"Oh, make it quick then."

"Alright."

I hung up. She went to the restroom too, she could've told me… I was worried there for a second. I mean, Yui's, if you take her looks and chest size away, like a child. A big child. She's too gullible to be left alone.

"…why do I have the feeling that you're thinking badly of me, Maki?" ah, there she is. As she walks, she delivers a rather suspicious glare my away.

I brushed her off. "It's nothing, anyway, let's go. I can hear the sound of the festival already." And it's true. The station's close with where the festival's being held, after all. "You don't want to arrive only to find they'd ran out of food, do you?"

"N-No! Of course not! Let's go Maki!"

Sheesh… is food the only thing in this girl's head?

You know what; I won't be surprised if that's the case.

* * *

Our walk to the festival is a silent one; we're both occupied with our own stuffs. In Yui's case, it's her phone. She's probably chatting with Yukinoshita at LINE or whatever right now. Me, on the other hand, I'm kind of trying to make myself more… comfortable with how I'm spending my life right now.

Before I joined the Service Club, I don't go to festivals like this one, much less accompanied with a girl like Yui. I don't even have people to talk to outside of Komachi, her mom and those from the publishing company. Even Orimoto, after my broke up with her at the end of my middle school senior year, I don't really keep in contact with her. It was only today that she decided to come and visit my apartment. In all honesty, I don't really know why she decided to visit me after a long time. I mean, we chatted a few times, but only though messages. And the both of us don't even read what the other had to say most of the time.

The reason why Orimoto even came to my apartment earlier today…

 _'I just want to see you'_ … she said.

Heh. Normally, anyone with an ex-girlfriend would laugh if they hear their ex say that to them. But due to the circumstances of our break up, I'm fine with it. I let her into my apartment as a friend and, though I kind of regretted letting her mooch off of me, we're chill with each other. It may not make sense.

But hey, so does life.

Orimoto was not the first, and something's telling me that she won't be the last one either.

Whatever I do from now on, I hope that I won't fuck things up.

"Hey Maki, let's go buy some food already!"

This girl is really like a kid, I mean, she's even pulling on my cardigan.

"Hm? And what do you wanna get?" I asked her.

"Hm…? Let's see… ah, I want candied apples! Yeah, candied apples! Let's get some, Maki!"

Candied apples, huh? Can't say I'm too keen on munching on sugar so soon. "Nah, I'll pass. I don't want to start eating sweet things first… guess I'll get mine later. Why don't you get one for yourself now, I'll wait here?"

Suddenly, the excited smile fades away from her face. She retracts her hand back, no longer pulling on my cardigan. "Uuuh… I guess I'll… also buy it later, then."

"…"

"…"

…God… being a nice guy sucks. Sighing, I tried to cheer her mood up a little bit. "Tell you what, Yui, why don't we go grab some cotton candies? Komachi likes those so let's get some for Komachi. In the meantime, why don't we see the other stalls as well?"

"Ah, right! Let's go!"

She drags me off again, this time, I don't really mind it as much as before. Yui's leading me deeper into the festival, where the crowd is thicker and the atmosphere's rowdier. I'm not good with crowds, but I can't say that I hate it either. It makes for a very good escape when you're in a pinch, after all.

"Oh, let's look at that!"

Yui, stop pulling so hard, it'll stretch.

"Eeeeh… what's this?" she's like a five year old seeing a brand new toy, well, that's not too far from the image actually.

I looked at what she's referring too. Ah, it's these. There strings, like a lot of them, tied into a bundle and for every penny you pay, you get to choose and pull on one of the strings to get the prize that's attached to the other end of the string that you chose. See? The prizes are inside the glass box, visible for all to see, making this game all the more tempting. This is not a game, this is a scam. You can't win on this kind of thing, no, no. I can see the devious smile that the vendor's giving us. Unknown to him, the same but a much sinister smile also forms on my face.

I nudged Yui. "You wanna try?"

"Eh, I can? It looks pretty hard though…"

I shrugged. "Just try. Here, I'll even pay for it." I hand my 500 yen coin to the vendor. "Here." I leaned close to the glass box, using my other hand to touch it. Using a teeny weeny bit of chakra, I rearranged the positions of the strings. What I'm doing is the very basic knowledge of puppetry. Combat Puppeteers would use the same method to control their chakra strings as they manipulate their puppets into battle. What I did was similar, except I'm forming a string of chakra, I merely rearranged one of the strings that was tied to a shitty prize to the large, bunny rabbit doll plushy. I chose the string and motioned to Yui.

"Here, pull this."

"Eh, this one? Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'm feeling lucky even though we haven't visited the shrine yet." I grinned.

"Alright, fine, I'll trust you." and it's not like you get to refuse this or anything anyway, I paid for it after all.

Yui takes the string off my hand and slowly pulls on it. I can see the smile on the vendor's face getting wider by each inch Yui is pulling. My smile remains.

"O-Oh! I got something! I got something!"

"E-Eh… how-I mean, c-congratulations!"

Heh.

After, hesitantly, handing us the wabbit plushy, we left the scene. Of course, the wabbit's all Yui's, since I don't really like rabbits. They remind me of a certain big, bad fox. I exited the stall in total victory, I can hear the vendor muttering things like 'how's it possible and 'but it's rigged' and things like that. Heh, that'll teach him to scam from little kids.

Hm? What's that, I'm being like this even though I'm a jerk?

Well, let's just say that I'm an even bigger jerk than he was. A jerk's jerk, I'm _the_ jerk to the power of two.

Now that she's hugging the plushy, she's no longer holding the edge of my cardigan. We moved on the next two stalls from the one we were before. Unlike the one before, this one does not involve scamming the shit out of customers. However, those with diabetes are guaranteed to get worse if they buy anything from this stall.

It's a cotton candy stall. I told Yui that Komachi likes cotton candy, which she does, so I figured that we should get her one now that there's someone selling them here.

"Ooh! I haven't had these for a while."

I find that unlikely. Considering how active you are in school, I always thought that you're in some sort of never ending state of sugar rush.

"Which one should we get, Maki? The blue one or the pink one?"

Hm… I'm thinking of maids for some reason now. **(6)** But, meh, any will do. "Meh, any will do."

Yui takes out her purse. "Then I'll get one of each, then." She purchases two cotton candies, one pink and the other blue. She handed the blue one to me. "Here, this is for Komachi-chan."

I took it from her. Then, I took a bite from it.

"E-Eh, you're eating it, Maki?"

"I see nothing wrong with that." I shrugged. "After all, what belongs to the little sister also belongs to the big brother!" **(7)**

"What are you, Gian?!"

"Nah, I'm more of a Suneo kind 'a guy now. Minus the whole bitching, crying and cowering."

"I can't believe you still remember that show… it's been, like, forever ever since they aired that on TV."

One of the many perks of being an immortal and god-knows-how-old shinobi, Yui.

As we're about to resume our walk to browse the other stalls, a voice stops the both of us.

"Ah, Yui-chan, is that you?"

Yui and I turn around at the same time. To me, I'm just looking at three girls who are disturbing our festival-gourmet scene. But to Yui, she happened to meet her friends at the festival.

"Ah! Sagamin~!"

Yeah, this is the part where I sneak away stealthily to avoid getting any attention.

"Hey, isn't that Uzumaki-kun over there?"

Crap, too late!

Finding myself unable to retreat, I'm forced to return their attention. The three girls are undoubtedly students from our school, since one of them, the one with the gaudy purple hair, just mentioned my name. Due to my loner status, I don't really interact that much with the people around me at school, so I have no freaking clue as to who they are. But it took me on by surprise too. This is the first time somebody I didn't know about much less, approached me outside of the school.

"Yes, he's Uzumaki Naruto from our class." Yui says in my stead, confirming my identity to the three girls.

"Eeeh…" then, the purple haired girl, this Sagamin as Yui called her, smirks. And I don't like it. "What's he doing here with you? Don't tell me…"

Immediately, Yui goes red on the face and she's denying Sagamin's unspoken but not misunderstood words. "N-N-NO! I-IT'S NOT LIKE THAT!"

"Ohohoho? Really?~"

As Yui explains our particular reason for being here, I was giving Sagamin and her two friends a careful look. As Yui's explanation goes on, the sick satisfaction of seeing a 'friend' of theirs in a state of difficulty surfaces immediately. I knew that these girls are nothing more than trouble, both for Yui and me. The looks on their faces are just rich, as in the twisted sense. These types of girls, they're the kind of types that try to make themselves look all good, respectable and admirable in front of others. But on the inside, they're the anti-thesis of their own outwardly façade.

They're fake as fuck.

And I have enough of dealing with fake ass bitches thanks to a certain dead and penis-obsessed painter.

I find myself slowly getting disinterested at the girls', not Yui, attempt of making conversation. They're just reveling in Yui's situation, right now. Stepping forward, I tapped Yui on the shoulder.

"Hey, let's go. The fireworks are about to start."

I could hear them giggling at us. Mocking us.

"A-Ah, sure, I gotta go now Sagamin, everyone." She waves her hands, flashing them a sincere smile. "Bye~!"

I did not have to look back to guess what kind of face that they're making the moment we turn our backs towards them. We resume our walk, visiting different food stalls in order to get the things that Yui wants to give to Komachi. The number of people here are way more than the one further back to the entrance, maybe because the fireworks display is starting, after all?

"Ne… Maki?" in the middle of our walk, I heard Yui's soft voice uttering her nickname for me.

"What is it?"

"Uh… are you… having a good time right now?"

…I have to praise her bravery for asking such questions. If she was a certain violet haired, white eyed princess, she'd fainted right now.

I chuckled, before answering her. "I sure am." I raised the luggage of foods that I'm carrying on both hands. "I mean, who wouldn't have a good time carrying all of these foods, riiiiiiiight~?"

"Y-Y-You don't have to be like that Maki! Here let me carry some! You jerk!"

"You're wrong. I'm **the** jerk." I flashed my pearly whites proudly.

"Uwaaah you're a degenerate, Maki."

I snorted. "I'm even more surprised that the word 'degenerate' is even in your vocabulary, Yui."

"There you go again with being mean! Idiot Maki, stupid Maki, jerk Maki!"

" **The** … Jerk Maki."

"…pft."

"…pft."

We share a laugh.

At this point, we've reached a nice spot where we'll be able to see the fireworks and enjoy them fully. This particular place is just by the river banks, so there are quite a lot of people with picnic mats and chairs for them to sit on so that they can enjoy the display. Families are here, couples, friends… yeah, it's turning into a very crowded place in this festive night.

"Hey, let's find another place." I muttered. "I think I'm gonna be sick in this crowd."

"Ah, you don't like crowds after all do you Maki? C'mon, let's go." Now she returns to pulling my arm.

We retreated sideways to a more elevated area than the one before. This place has less people, but I think we both know why. There are chain link borders placed near the hill, looks like this place is VIP's only.

"Whoa… looks like we're not supposed to be here…" Yui mutters while letting go of my hand at the same time. "You gotta be super important in order to be here."

What was that? super important? "I'm, like, super important, Yui. Psh, let's just look at the fireworks from here. It's a better place than the one before."

"Yeah, I guess you're right."

From the distant, we hear something screeching off into the sky, followed by a loud popping sound. Redness and sparks light up the night sky for a brief instant, before eventually disappearing just as it quickly appears.

Ah. Now I know why people like looking at fireworks. Aside from the fact that they could appreciate the fancy and color lights, there's also beauty in watching something as transient as a firework. Though it lasts for no more than several seconds, their beauty is left to be admired for days or even years.

"It's starting!" Yui squeals. Looks like she's looking forward to the fireworks more than food, after all.

"Eeeh, Uzumaki-kun, is that you?"

I flinched.

No.

No, no, no.

This voice…

Yui turns around instantly the moment my name was called, but my reaction was a little bit delayed because I knew who called me.

Standing on the hill right on the VIP's side of the area, Yukinoshita Haruno is waving her hand familiarly over to our direction with a smile on her face. There was a brief gleam in her eyes, but it could just be the fireworks display reflected back at me. Her waving becomes that of a gesturing motion, compelling us to come to where she is.

If it was just me, I'd run away and never look back. But Yui's here and she wants to enjoy the fireworks, so I stepped into the devil's lair.

* * *

"Maa, who would've thought that I'd stumble upon you here, Uzumaki-kun?"

"Likewise."

"Moou, you're so cold, Uzumaki-kun."

I do not like Yukinoshita Haruno. While she's definitely not as threatening as Madara, Pain or Kaguya; she triggers that sense of unidentifiable fear in my being. It's hard to describe in words so let me bring out the names of two people in order to get a better grasp of what I'm trying to say.

Basically, she's like Anko-sensei and the Fifth Mizukage combined.

Baa-chan's still scarier than those two, hell she was scarier than Kaguya, but Yukinoshita Haruno is one of those people that I am not comfortable to be nearby with, which is why I'm letting Yui sit in the middle, acting as a barrier between me and the woman. Sorry for using you like this Yui…

"I came here representing my father for some boring family matters that I have to do." She starts off the conversation and she already mentions her family? Wow, what are you, the Capulet's heiress? "I'm glad that you're here, Uzumaki-kun."

Crossing my arms, my vision is focused on the display of explosive colors on the sky in front of me.

It's like the 4th of July, except less beer and more talking.

"I'm afraid I cannot share the same feeling, Yukinoshita-san." I replied with a flat voice.

"Maa, maa, you'll come to like me sooner or later." Why does she sound so confident when she says that? "Anyway, what are the two of you doing here? Are you guys on a-"

"No!" this is the second time Yui denies the possibility of me being on a date with her. Not that she's wrong, though. "We're just here to buy some stuffs for Maki's little sister."

"Oh? You have a little sister, Maki?" Yukinoshita Haruno sounds surprised, but I can tell that it's just an exaggeration.

"Not really." I answered. "She's not my real sister, but I consider her as one. We're close." I don't know why buy my willingness to speak is slowly diminishing the longer I spent my time around this woman.

"Eeeh, can't say I met people who are like that before." Yukinoshita Haruno giggles to the sleeve of her yukata. "But it's nice to see the fireworks from here, right? This is the VIP seats after all."

"Whoa… like celebrity's place?"

"You can say that." Yukinoshita Haruno answers after a fit of giggles. "Our father's job deals with these local government people a lot so I always find myself occupied in such luxuries." She leans in to me, invading Yui's space while doing so. The dangerous glint that I saw on her eyes earlier returned. "You may not be dating, but having an affair is a big no-no, okay Uzumaki-kun?"

"And who am I having an affair with?" I retorted, glancing at her.

"With Yukinoshita-chan of course!" this woman proudly says the name of her sister as if she's bragging about a trophy she won during high school.

"E-Eh?! You're in that kind of r-relationship with Yukinon, Maki?" urrrgh….

"Yui," I slapped my forehead, letting my palm remain there, "the day I date Yukinoshita is the day I confess just how much of a ramen fanatic I am." My voice's as flat as a wall. "Do you even pay attention to how that girl and I talk to each other at school?"

"Eh…" Yui looks up, as if recalling such events. Then, she returns, an awkward smile forming on her face. "I-I guess… yeah, but if you two are dating, I'm sure that your dates would be… interesting. Hahahaha…"

"Interesting." I snorted. "So, a date where you occasionally insult, curse, jab, mock and ridicule your significant other is interesting to you, Yui?" before she could deny, I'm already a step ahead of her. "Wow, you have a very weird fetish Yui, ewwwww~"

"M-M-Maki! Stop bullying me in front of Yukinoshita-san!"

"No way, as your clubmate and resident jerk, I have the rights to bully you whenever, however and in front of whoever I want." With a tone that carries verdict, I said this.

Our interaction elicits a chorus of laughter from Yukinoshita Haruno.

"U-Um…"

"Yes? Uhmm…" the older Yukinoshita makes a face of someone who's trying hard to remember something. "You're… something-gahama-san, right?"

Oi, oi. I mean, I know it's irresistible to bully her, but I just said the first part of her name like a few moments ago. How can you forget it, woman?

"It's Yuigahama."

"Oh right, now I remember."

"Yukinon didn't come with you today?"

It seems that she's itching to ask that question the moment we made our conversation. I mean, I can't blame her. I haven't seen Yukinoshita ever since… the end of the field trip.

"Yukino-chan's probably at home." probably? "I'm the one who usually represents our family on events like this, since I'm the older one." Oh, trying to pull out your superior household position, eh? "Our mother is pretty firm about that. You know, our mother is pretty strong-willed, stubborn in a way. She's scary."

Yeah, I kind of already get that during the first three words about your description of her.

But still, I asked. "Huh? Scarier than Yukinoshita and you?"

"Yeah. She's scarier than me." she smirks.

"Is that even humanly possible? No, on second thought, I don't wanna know." Now I have another person to add into my list of 'people who I definitely should not and will not meet'.

"Hahaha. Yukino-chan? Scary? You're rude, Uzumaki-kun." No, no, I'm just being honest here. "But yes, our mother is someone who forces others into following her. She's that stubborn and strict." Uwaah, I can only imagine what your household is like. "As her daughters, we're forced to negotiate and compromise with her demands. And Yukino-chan is not very good at it."

I smiled.

"Hm… I'm starting to see the pattern here. We have a hard assed mom who micromanages and decide things for their daughter and let me guess, her reason for doing this is because she just wants 'the best' for you two. Next we have a big sister who's concern and care for her little sister are straight up questionable, who's also a manipulative person with the tendency to convince other people with her words and looks. And finally, we have a little sister who's caught up in all of this, incapable of making her own decision, thus forcing her to rely on her older sister and mother's demand to make her life livable?"

It's safe to say that Yukinoshita Haruno is not smiling anymore at that point.

But I still am, though.

"You know, I'd be lying to you if I say that this is my first time dealing with this family or sibling to sibling feud." I sighed. "Well, it's because, this isn't my first time. The last time I got involved in something like this, it caused the death of one of the best and most respected person I know about. So… seeing you here throwing hints, not so subtly I might add, at me about how fragile your household is like raising an ominous flag."

I paused, and despite the fireworks going off in the background, things got awkward.

"Listen, Haruno-san," I made sure to use her name, "I don't like when you misdirect me into a path where you could use me to do things for your selfish gains." I can feel the cold hard look thrown at me from the supposedly older woman. "I do not doubt you for wanting Yukinoshita to be alright, but I'm afraid I must have to disagree with the way you... carry out your plans."

It's like, what, the twentieth firework that they've launched? And it's still loud.

"You're here talking to us, talking to me, cluing me about something that you want done for Yukinoshita. If it is what I think it is, then I admire you. But if it isn't, then I despise you."

My look turned cold.

"Do you know the saying that goes _false hope really makes you cynical_? Well, it's true."

I can't… for the nerve of this woman…

"If you continue to mislead Yukinoshita in that road you've paved, you'll end up screwing her life over."

Source: me.

I suppose I understand a little bit of what Yukinoshita Haruno is trying to do.

She wants to… help her little sister. She wants to show that she cares, to prove that she cares… but regret and all sorts of past sins are holding her back. That's why she results to this type of approach. She appears to Yukinoshita as a cold, beautiful and all around perfectionist; only showing her care when the moment calls for it. On the other hand, her own personal pride won't allow her to act how she really feels, hindering her from doing what it is that she wants to do.

You, know, it's funny.

A sister who wants to actually help her little sister is actually troubled herself.

Like, does it run in the family or something?

Instead of intensifying her glare like I had thought she'd do, she sighs and her expression mellows out.

For once, I saw her making her a truly helpless expression.

"Then… what should I do?"

If only Yukinoshita is here to hear how helpless her sister is. What's in front of me is not the meddlesome, mischievous or even the sinister heiress of the Yukinoshita name.

She looks no different than your normal big sister who sincerely wants the best for her younger sister.

"You do the things that you **know** is right… not the things that you **think** is right."

I felt like that is the best answer that I could give right there.

"Some of us have to run before we could even walk… some even have to fly before they could even run." I said. "But you know what they don't have to do? They don't have to do all of that alone. Yukinoshita… she's… not the most sociable type of kid at school, hell me too, and with her resident reputation of being an Ice Queen, it'll take a lot of effort for her to talk to someone with the pure intention of engaging in a normal conversation. She's not the type of kid who knows how to deal with a lot of people too, so she'll have to get comfortable with me and Yui first before she could even deal with others."

Especially those like Zaimokuza. Brr…

"But you know what; I think that she's… getting there. We're all getting there. If you know Hiratsuka-sensei as well as I think you do, then you know that this whole service club thing is not a mistake. We're on the right path. We **are** on the right path. You want to do something for your sister. Then go ahead and do it, but don't assume that she'll have to go through it alone. Remember, snowflakes do not fall alone, there are, like, a gazillion others accompanying it."

The roar of applause and cheers erupted from the crowd. The firework display has ended and so do the words that I have to say.

A lone tear slides down Yukinoshita Haruno's porcelain like cheek. She smiles and immediately wipes the tear dry, leaving not a single trace behind.

"Wow. I never thought that you'd actually give me an answer to my woes, Uzumaki-kun. I'm surprised."

Sucks to be you.

"But… thank you." she breathes out. "Thank you, Uzumaki-kun." She smiles.

…god…

"Psh, whatever. It's not like I'm doing it for you." God, I sounded like a generic romcom tsundere right there!

Giggling, Yukinoshita Haruno stands up, dusts off her clothing and smiles. "Well, I guess I'll be going now to avoid traffic."

Yeah, you better do that. I can already see people getting ready to leave. The way back won't be easy.

"Sure, we'll go back on our own." I said, giving Yukinoshita Haruno a knowing look.

"Aww, but I was just about to offer you two a ride back home. It's a limo you know?"

I saw Yui flinch.

And it seems that Yukinoshita Haruno knows why. "Ah, but didn't Yukino-chan tell you anything?"

I opened my mouth. "I see no need to ask her about something that's happened in the past. It was an accident, after all and besides, I'm okay now." I chuckled. "It's not like I died, right?"

For some reason, Yukinoshita Haruno is now frowning. "Moou, really, Uzumaki-kun, you really have no tact." She sighs. "Yuigahama-chan,"

"Y-Yes!"

"Take care of the meanie will you?"

Oi, I can perfectly take care of myself.

"Ah, yes!"

Don't get so enthusiastic, Yui.

"Then, I bid you adieu. Bye~!"

With that said, we returned to our respective methods of transport.

* * *

"Ne… Maki, can you… listen to what I have to say for a while?"

After dropping off at the station, I decided to walk Yui home. I mean it's dark and late in the night, I can't just let her walk home alone, right? Even from a jerk's point of view, I still can't allow that.

Walking, the both of us are accompanied by the distant sound of crickets and the starry moonlit sky of Japan. It's a nice night tonight, the warm breeze is definitely something that one could enjoy with a good ol' cup of ramen. Yes, ramen, you heard me right. Right now, we're in the housing area right where Yui lives and it's still quite a few distances away from my apartment, but it's nearer to Komachi's house, though.

I stopped walking when her question reached my ears, tilting my head, I asked. "Oh, sure, but it's getting kind of late… your parents must be worried."

But she shakes her head. "No, it's fine… I'm sure they'll understand. I did tell them that I'll be home rather late, after all." She flashes me a smile of reassurance.

"Sure, but don't blame me if your dad gets mad or something."

"Hahaha, let me worry about that, Maki."

Then, it got awkward.

Great.

I coughed. "Ahem, so what is it that you wanna say?"

She stops fidgeting, her posture becoming as straight as nails. Then, she blushes, stammering. "O-O-Oh, yeah, um… it's… about what you said earlier, to… Yukinoshita-san…"

"To Haruno?"

She nods. She fidgets some more and I'll be honest with you, I could wait here all night, but I'm worried that she'll be home late and her parents will be mad at her or something.

"About… us… the club, you, Yukinon… me… are we… right? A-As in, are we on the right path?" she whispers out, almost begging for me to answer her. "We have had our moments when we'd… y'know, fight and all, a-and especially lately, we haven't been talking to Yukinon that much, but… do you believe that we're not… hopeless?"

"No." I said it with so much conviction I might as well become a lawyer. "Because if this is wrong, then there's no way we'd be talking like this, right?"

I mean, think about it.

"If things didn't work out the way they did, then, I wouldn't have made any effort to try and talking to you or Yukinoshita much less. Sure, there were moments when we… eh… alright who am I kidding with, we threw insults and mock each other's mother like there's no tomorrow but it's probably thanks to those moments too that we're able to be where we are now. It wasn't the smoothest of rides either, I mean, we had to accept a lot of unreasonable requests from people but that's the whole point, isn't it? The Service Club's duty is to lend a helping hand for others… I don't see why we won't get closer after all the things we've been through."

Yes… it was not a mistake.

No, it wasn't.

The only mistake was when I doubted that this whole thing is going to be different. The only mistake that happened was my assumption.

"Ehm… Yui, you okay? You're getting kind of red…" I'm not sure it's healthy… so I leaned forward, and pressed her forehead against mine to get a better feel of her body temperature. "Hm… it's not hot… or anything but…"

Wait, what am I doing?

I pulled back from what I was doing after realizing what I just did.

Stupid Maki, idiot Maki, jerk Maki!

"S-Sorry, Yui, I wasn't thinking!" I raised my hand, pulling the plastic bag with me. "Whenever Komachi would get a cold I'd do that to her so, uh…"

"It's… fine, Maki."

Oh great, whew, I thought she was gonna go all Yukinoshita on my ass.

"B-But that wasn't the only thing I want to talk about."

Hm?

"You see, Maki, I-I-I… I…"

" _Because, I love you, Naruto-kun."_

" _Because that's… my ninja way…"_

Ah.

Ah…

…

"Yu-"

BZZZZZZZZZZZ

The both of us stares at the purse that Yui's carrying herself. Thankfully, I was the one to snap out of our trance. "You're not gonna answer that?"

She looks conflicted.

I'm sorry, Yui.

"Ah, I guess I should." She smiles. "Hello? Ah, mama?" okay, that's cute. "I'm just a few blocks away, I'll get back soon. N-No, it's fine, I'll walk! Sheesh… yeah I'll get back soon, I'm okay mama… okay… bye."

Lowering her phone from her ears, Yui pockets it back inside her purse. "M-Maki, I-"

BZZ BZZ BZZ!

Hm?

Well… isn't this strange?

Pulling out my phone, I checked the caller's ID.

Ori…moto?

I gestured my phone. "Do you mind if I…"

"Ah, sure!"

"Kay."

I picked up.

"Hello?"

" _Uzumaki?"_

"Yeah, it's me. What're you doing calling so late at night?"

" _No, I just want to call you. Is there a problem? Oh, are you still on your date?"_

"…no… I'm just about done here. What do you want?"

"… _nothing, I just want to tell you… eh… good night."_

"Uhm. Good night."

I hung up. "Sorry about that Yui but it's getting late. Could we talk again tomorrow?"

She shakes her head, smiling. "It's okay, it's getting late and mama's worried too." she says. "It should be fine from here, Maki. I can walk back on my own."

"Okay." I cannot say anything else here. "Then… see you tomorrow?"

"See you tomorrow, Maki. Don't forget to attend club, tomorrow!"

"Sure." I smiled, before scolding her. "And keep your voice down, you're disturbing your neighbor."

We share a small laugh before eventually parting ways.

* * *

Words could not express how bad I'm feeling right now.

It's bad enough that I just vented off to Yukinoshita's older sister earlier at the festival and now I just stopped a girl from doing the obvious.

Yui… why Yui, why?

What's there to like from this stupid, idiotic, and jerk of a man?

I'm not… dumb, but I sometime question that myself, and I most definitely knew what Yui was going to do back then. Why did I stop her? I mean, if she confesses to me, I'd have no problem with hearing what she has to say… so, why did I stop her? I could've brought up back the topic as easily as that phone call disturbed it… even after Orimoto's call, I could've still brought it up.

So why didn't I?

Gaaaaaah! Yuigahama Yui, I take back what I said about you, you're one of the most troublesome and confusing woman I've ever known.

I walked off the area and took a sharp left turn into an alley. As soon as I'm inside, with a careful and small spike of chakra, I can feel my body getting lighter and the next thing I knew, I'm inside another alleyway near my apartment block. I could've just transported inside my room, but there're security cameras checking for surveillance. If they checked the recording, they'll notice that something's wrong.

With a swipe of my keycard, I was able to unlock the gate to the apartment complex. I entered the lobby and through the use of my keycard, I took the elevator ride to my floor. Since this is a luxury apartment, each resident has a floor of their own so I when I said I'm taking a ride to my floor, I really meant my floor.

With a trademarked 'ding', the door slides open and I walked to my door. Swiping my keycard on the thingie on the side of my door, I entered my house, dropped the food on the floor and then jumping straight for my couch.

I lay there, staring at the ceiling.

…

…

"Ah, the food for Komachi!"

* * *

I didn't get much sleep, and it didn't help the fact that I had to wake up early in order to give Komachi the food she ordered. She told me not to worry about it since she could just heat up the warm food in the microwave. Thank you my (un)related little sister for being such a forgiving person. Your big brother loves you.

Anyway, the ride to school is as boring as ever. I mean, it'd be nicer if I'm riding a motorcycle but Japanese law does not allow teenagers under the age of eighteen to drive motor vehicles. And as an immortal who's posing as a high school student whose alleged age is sixteen years old, driving a motorcycle legally is not something that I'll be doing anytime soon.

Legally.

But that's not really a major concern or anything. What's concerning was last's night even, yesterday. I had a reunion with Orimoto, went on a date with Yui, met with one of the few people that I don't really feel comfortable to be around with and nearly got confessed to. Boy, any normal teenage boys would kill to be in my position. Heh, too bad they can't kill me.

Cuz they'd be dead first.

The bags underneath my eyes are the proof of my sleepless night. After what Yui just pulled, I could not sleep. My mind kept on thinking, going on autopilot searching for an answer to my dilemma. Why did Yui try to confess to me? Is she doing this out of pity? Is she doing this because I saved her dog's life last time? No… we got over that. We sorted that out, so that can't be it. And not to mention, there was also the thing with Yukinoshita Haruno. God that woman is something else. The… 'advice' that I gave her was probably not the best answer for her, but it was for me. Anyway, it's up to her whether or not she wants to take it. I did my part of saying what I know was the right thing to say at that moment… but right now, I couldn't help but feel slightly nervous.

"Uzumaki-kun."

Aaaand here's the reason why I'm nervous on the flesh.

Looking up, Yukinoshita's looking down at me from the top of the staircase. She still has that cold, hard look on face.

God I missed it.

Smiling, I crossed my arms.

"Good morning, did Haruno-san say anything to you last night?"

Her eyes widen in surprise, but not as much as I thought they would. "Nothing much, other than the fact that you're a scary person and that I should be wary whenever I'm around with you." she holds to the straps of her bag, fastening it better. "Of course, I already knew that so I ignored her advice."

I shook my head.

"It's good to have you back, Yukinoshita."

She looks surprised, but I only smiled.

"If you don't want to talk about it, then I won't ask you. But don't hesitate to speak with me either."

I walked up the stairs, moving past her.

"Thank you… Uzumaki-kun."

I'd answer her if it was not for me suddenly fainting and then falling down the stairs.

* * *

 **1:** KONO DIO DA!

 **2:** Classic anime/manga trope about main protagonists always sitting near the window.

 **3:** I don't discriminate. If you sexually identify yourself as an attack helicopter, then who am I to change that?

 **4:** Manzai is basically Japanese stand-up comedy with a Boke and a Tsukkomi, the joker and the straight man respectively. Search for Downtown Gaki no Tsukai! They're my favorite, personally.

 **5:** Basically, if you're a member of the going home club, you're not involved in a particular club or whatsoever.

 **6:** Reference to Rem and Ram from Re:Zero. Hmm… now what other franchise should I destroy?

 **7:** Reference to Doraemon.

 **This chapter is the beginning of the vital changes that will soon be happening in this story. And changes will happen. You may not like it and I completely understand if you dropped this story. I introduced Orimoto so early into the story, but I have plans for her. So expect more drama from now on.**


	10. His and Her Circumstances Pt1

**It should be obvious that I have been relying on the anime only for my sources. After episode nine, the very last scene where 8man met Yukinoshita again at school after not seeing each other after summer vacation, I assume that there's a time skip before episode ten, as in, several days, maybe even a week, have passed before episode ten started. That means this chapter along with the next few chapters, I won't be touching episode ten or even canon.**

 **With that said, I'll use that window to bring about the change in this story. And as I've said before in the previous chapter, expect the drama from Orimoto, because she'll find a special place in this arc. What happens after these original events will affect the entire story greatly and I'm sure that it won't be a smooth transition from canon.**

 **So, with that said, please enjoy,**

 **Oh and yeah, the chapter title is a nod to the series with the same name.**

* * *

There were times when I would notice the changes happening to me.

And when I said 'changes' I meant those that happened due to my status as an immortal.

Immortality is not a very common topic back then, even amongst scholars. You either have to be a pedophilic snake guy, a guy who likes piercings with a very huge god complex or just a mad psycho that wants to enslave the entire world under one huge illusion. Yeah, not the best kind of people, weren't they? What I'm trying to say is, even if the concept is there, the possibilities are there, there wasn't any studies done specifically to research this concept known as immortality, unless you're one of the people mentioned above.

The circumstances of my immortal status are as mysterious as a well written detective novel. Even I do not know why or how it works. I only know that Kaguya was the one that 'cursed' me with immortality, but not after killing everyone and taking away chakra from everyone other than me. Why did she do that? Why took chakra from everything else but me? I thought about this particular motive a long time ago and I assume that it's her way of saying 'fuck you' before dying. Even so, I still can't cling on to that assumption forever. But one thing is clear. That woman wanted to see me suffer, which was why she killed all of my friends, my people and family and then giving me immortality just so that I could live in eternity while wallowing in despair over my past failure.

Being an immortal is… not how you might think it would be.

When we talk about the word immortal, we assume things like living forever and not getting old. Well, those are true, I couldn't age anymore and I am doomed to live forever. But, let me tell you, being an immortal is more than that. It's not only about living for eternity, it's all about dealing with the constant changes that happen to you each day you live your life. I'm a shinobi, my physiology is different than that of a normal human, and not to mention, I'm also an Uzumaki and the former Jinchuriki of a fragment of a primordial god.

For me, personally, being immortal comes with a few negative side effects.

Aside from the crippling depression, cynic attitude and pessimism; my body had to suffer too. You see, chakra is not like water, it's not like honey either. Those two things will never expire and will taste the same even if you left them alone for a very long time. For the sake of convenience, I'll liken chakra to coffee. **(1)**

Coffee will taste bad and when it tastes bad, it's bad.

Just like chakra.

When coffee tastes bad, you replace it with a fresh batch, right? Well, chakra's like that too. Instead of brewing a fresh batch, you replenish them by siphoning them from your environment.

And remember what I said about what Kaguya did a looooooong time ago?

Yup, that bitch, she planned this out.

What a grandiose way of saying 'fuck you', eh?

Not only did she killed my friends, she took away chakra, knowing that the reserves that I had won't last forever and when the time comes when I need to restore them, there won't be any chakra for me to gather anymore. Wow, get rekt Naruto, that bitch got you real good.

This is one of the reasons why I abstain from using chakra as freely as I used to. And though chakra is not completely absent, it's not as… potent as it used to be. Whenever I would try to gather chakra, I'd only get something else entirely. As a result of living all this time without being able to replace the reserves I have in me, my body is paying the price for it.

Of course, I noticed this. I mean, wouldn't it be strange that a shinobi like me got hit by a car? Or a truck, for that matter? Ever since I lived in Japan, I got into two accidents, and despite the irony of the both of them being car related accidents, I can conclude that those accidents happened because of my inability to gather fresh chakra. My movement is not as fluid as it used to be. My strength is halved of what I used to have. But thankfully, it's not affecting me mentally. Again, ignoring the moments of crippling depression and pessimism that I now constantly experience.

What I'm saying is this: immortality is a curse and no one should try to achieve it.

So, when I fell down the stairs, I wasn't able to completely react in time and my body had to pay the price for it.

"UZUMAKI-KUN!"

I blacked out for a second, but awoke again a fraction of a second later. I stumbled backwards and I found myself falling down. Falling down the stairs, I managed to shift my position in mid-air in order to fall on the correct form. Not that there's anything correct when falling. If you fall, you fall. I just prevented the fall from giving me a nasty result, like a broken bone or something. Still, it was so sudden and in the current state that I'm in, I cannot not get injured.

People gasp and some nearby even let out small screams.

I landed on my back, the back of my head hitting the ceramic tiles with a loud and echoing CRACK.

God, I hope they won't make me replace that.

"Hey, you okay?!"

"God, what happened?"

People rushed towards me but before they could even come close, I'm already standing. I winced. Strange, this should be nothing to me… why am I feeling pain? Is this due to my condition? My hand reached for the place where I hit my head and I felt something warm, sticky and watery.

Blood.

Well now…

"U-Uzumaki-kun, are you okay?"

I looked down and noticed that Yukinoshita is panicked. Her eyes are erratic, pupils shifting back and forth from my blood stained hand and the place where I crash landed. "Oh my… you're bleeding! Are you okay? Does it hurt? Come on, let's get you to the school's infirmary."

"Yukinoshita, calm down." I grunted out when she pulled at my hand. She lets go of my hand, pursing her lips. "Anyway, I'm okay, but yeah, it hurts." And I don't know why. "Let me get my bag first…"

"No, I'll carry it for you. Let's go to the infirmary, now."

"A-Alright, sheesh."

So she dragged me all the way to the infirmary.

"Sit down."

"Yeah."

Huh, never thought that I'd visit the school's infirmary.

Take it from a guy who never gets sick, so you can't blame me for feeling different. I mean, I've been to hospitals a lot of time, but those were mostly due to accidents and whatnots. I suppose this could count as an accident too. Anyway, I sat down on one of the vacant beds, sitting on the edge. I waited patiently, seeing that Yukinoshita's currently retrieving all the necessary tools to get me patched up.

She returns shortly later with a roll of bandages, a bottle of betadine solution, a cold pack and a roll of surgical tapes.

"Oh, I won't need the betadine." I told Yukinoshita.

She gives me a worried look. "What are you saying? It will get infected if you don't treat it immediately."

"No, I'm fine with just the ice pack, really."

She hesitates, but sighs in defeat. She returns the betadine back to the cabinet and returns with alcohol. "Then at least let me clean the wound for you."

I shrugged.

Yukinoshita positions herself on the bed behind me, so that she could work with my head properly. I'm tall and even when I'm sitting down, she'll have a hard time treating the wound properly. She is sitting in a seiza position and the first aid tools are laid out on the free space on the bed for her to work with.

"Uzumaki-kun, I'll start applying the alcohol now, so be prepared."

"Right." I droned off.

She dabbed the bandage with alcohol, using it as a gauze and she starts to apply pressure on the bleeding area with it. I don't feel pain, maybe it's because I'm used to the feeling of getting alcohol pressed on an open wound on my body. But I could still feel the coldness of the alcohol as it touches my skin. Isopropyl alcohol, or normal rubbing alcohol, has a low boiling point to a point where it evaporates on room temperature, that's why it feels cold when coming in contact with my skin. Just like how sweat cools down your body, it will evaporate quickly.

She maintains pressure on the wound to make sure that no more blood is leaking from it. She keeps putting pressure on my wound for a good ten minutes and after that she lets go. Blood is no longer leaking and I suppose I have to thank my Uzumaki blood for that. Hehehe, get it?

"Should I wrap bandages around your head? There is no bump or whatsoever, which is strange since you were bleeding, but just to make sure that the wound will have pressure to keep it from getting opened again." She asks me.

"Sure." I would say no, but it'd be suspicious if my wound's completely healed after only a short period of time. Yukinoshita cuts a bandage of an appropriate length, so that she can wrap it around my head. The wrapping process is slow, looks like Yukinoshita knows when to be delicate after all. And the pressure is not too tight either, just enough to keep the wound from bleeding again. If Sakura-chan's the one doing this, she'd do it too tight.

I chuckled.

"What's wrong?" Oh shit, she caught me chuckling to myself.

"N-No, it's just that, I remembered the last time someone did this to me."

"Oh? Who was it?"

Er… "Er… it's a friend." I said, trying not to sound suspicious. "Yes, a friend. I fell and that person has to do the same thing as what you're doing right now. Looks like accidents keep on following me around, eh?"

"…"

God. Fucking. Dammit.

Why oh why did you say that Naruto?! Shit shit shit shit! Now it's gonna get awkward. Wow, I guess I really do need to think before I speak after all…

"U-Uh, Yukinoshita, what I meant to say was-"

"Don't." she whispers.

And since she's directly behind me, I can hear her loud and clear.

She places her hand on my scalp, adjusting the bandage she's wrapped around my head. Hm… it's getting kind of itchy already.

"I… know what you mean and I know it's only a joke." She says. Thank God she understands. "But… please don't joke about something like that. Ever."

…

I felt like a kid who got scolded by his mom for saying things like 'who cares, we'll all die anyway' or something along those lines. I can feel the quivering of her hands on my scalp, but I did nothing to stop it. I mean, I don't think I'm in any position to do it at the moment.

"Promise me, Uzumaki-kun."

…

…

It took me a while to reply.

"Y-Yeah. I… promise." Now I can't go and make suicidal jokes anymore, because I don't go back on my word. I felt a light tap on the top of my head, causing me to turn and look back.

"Good." I know Yukinoshita is pretty, but have she always been THIS pretty? I mean, the smile on her face, god, it suits her more than the scowl she always has whenever she's alone. It took me a second to realize of how close the distance between us is and I swore my face is as red as the stash of tomatoes that Sasuke keeps under his bed. **(2)**

"MAKI ARE YOU ALRIGHT?!"

I almost jumped from my spot. Goddammit woman, I don't want to have another bandage wrapped around me anytime soon!

Looking at the door, both Yukinoshita and I saw Yui gasping, her body heaving, and sweating as her pupils dilated as they seem to be quivering with what I now realize as worry. She dashes over to my side, grabbing me by the collar, pulling me from Yukinoshita's hands that were on my scalp.

"Are you okay? What happened to you? God… there's blood…" before she could ramble and pester me with even more questions, Yukinoshita tries to dismiss my other clubmate's worry but not before getting off the bed.

"Yuigahama-san, everything's fine now. I treated the wound on the back of his head so-"

"How can this be fine, Yukinon!?"

…looks like even Yukinoshita is not expecting that kind of outburst.

All of Yui's emotion, whatever it is, is directed at Yukinoshita.

"Maki just fell and you said that everything's fine?! What if he get seriously injured, what if something happened to him, what if he fell and never woke up, what if he broke any of his bones, what if he had fallen from the third floor's stairs, what if he… what if he…"

…she… she's… she's crying.

Class hasn't even started yet and she's crying already.

I don't know what to say here. Yukinoshita too from the looks of it. My club president is speechless, her eyes wide.

The unspoken outcome of my fall said by Yui is obviously death.

The three of us are here in the infirmary and none of us is saying a thing. Yui's sobbing, Yukinoshita's speechless and I'm…

I'm…

What am I doing?

"Guys."

Their eyes landed on me.

Raising my hands, I rolled my eyes. "I'm fiiiiiine~ see?" I looked at Yui. "Yui, I'm thankful for the concern but I'm fine. Really. Yukinoshita did a great job in patching me up so I'm a-okay now." I gave her a thumbs up, pointing to the bandage wrapped around my head. Then I turned to Yukinoshita. "Yukinoshita thank you for patching me up and please, the both of you, wipe your face."

"E-Eh kyaaa!/U-Uzumaki-kun?!"

My hands swiftly grabbed onto theirs, my left taking Yukino's left hand while my right taking Yui's right hand. I pulled them closer to me, so that I could wipe the tears from their face. Especially Yui's, because, god, when she cries, she cries. After making sure that there are no more smudges left on their cheeks, I retracted my hands back, and used them to assist me off my bed.

"Don't get so worried, the both of you, sheesh… are you two my mom or something?" I chuckled. "Anyway, I'm fine, really." My smile dropped. "And I suggest we get to class quick, Yui, Hiratsuka-sensei's gonna scold us. I don't know about you, Yukinoshita, but I suggest you do the same."

"R-Right!"

"Y-Yeah…"

"Oh, Yukinoshita," she perks up, "thanks for carrying me bag for me."

"Muuu…"

Ugh…

"And thanks for worrying, Yui."

"Hehehe~"

Seriously, what am I supposed to do?

* * *

"Naruto… are you okay?"

Ah… looks like falling and injuring myself is not so bad after all? I mean, Saika's worried about me.

When we entered our class, me and Yui, everyone immediately looked at the blonde with the gauze wrapped around his stupid blonde hair. Hiratsuka-sensei asked about the medical accessory I have on my head, but Yui was the one who explained what happened to her. I'm not complaining, I mean, it saved me the trouble of speaking, after all.

Right now, we're waiting for first period to start, there's always this waiting period after homeroom if Hiratsuka-sensei isn't our teacher for the first subject.

The tennis club's captain's lower lip is quivering and I can definitely detect the concern on his, cool blue eyes. "Your head's bandaged and I heard from Yui-chan that you were bleeding, are you okay?"

God, I can't wipe this smile from my face. "I'm fine, Saika." But it's fine if you wanna worry more about me.

Unfortunately, Saika trusts my words just enough to make him calm down and stop worrying about the bandages wrapped around my head. "Oh, I see. Did you fell?" God, his voice is just so… urgggh….

"Yeah."

"Thank goodness that nothing really bad happened."

Aww, he's really concerned.

"Are you alright, Uzumaki-kun?"

And just like that, the smile that I had on my face disappears.

I can hear the footsteps that Hayama and his clique are making as they walk over to my table. Shoo, go away, having you realfags over here won't do my loner reputation any good.

"I'm fine, Hayama." I droned out in the most monotonous voice that I could muster. "Thanks for the concern." I added obvious sarcasm just for him to get message.

"I see, where did you fell?"

Goddammit, man, can't you like, read the mood or something? Take a hint, dude. I mean, just look at your girlfriend over there, it's obvious that she doesn't want to be here…

"W-What are you looking at, whiskers!?"

Geez, miss girlfriend, looks like they were right on naming you the Fire Queen, I mean, c'mon, I just glanced over at your direction and you reacted to it already? You're way more reactive than fluorine.

"Heeh… so you, like, fell and hit your head, Uzuki-kun?" Oh god, it's already ten chapters and you still haven't remembered my name? What the hell, Toto? "Bet that sucks, bro…"

"Maybe you should let Hayama-kun take care of you for the day, Uzuki-kun? I-It'll be a great doctor and patient play! Just imagine in: you with Hayama-kun following you all around, and-and as-assisting you with your… bathroom relief?! Guhehehehehe~!"

Ew. No. Just… no. I'd rather let Itachi-san put me into an Infinite Tsukuyomi rather than having him follow me around for a whole day.

But really, though, why are ya'll gathering around my table? Everyone else's staring, c'mon, mang…

Oh and, HAH, how do you feel having your question unanswered, Hayama?

"What are you all doing here?" it seems that I'm so annoyed to the point where I'm voicing out my annoyance. "Just Saika being here is enough, you don't have to crowd my damn table as if it's a soup kitchen in the ghettos…" but, instead of food, you're all just waiting for a bag of fucks that I won't even give.

Hayama, unfortunately, is the one who answers. "You came into the room with a bloodied bandage wrapped around your head, I mean, who wouldn't?"

…

…

 **SPLURT!**

"E-E-E-EBINAAAAA?!"

"GYAAAAA, HINA, YOU'RE LETTING OUT SO MUCH BLOOD!"

Heh, looks like the infirmary will be having another patient so soon…

Ignoring the rotten girl who's currently bleeding and being carried to the infirmary by Toto and Hayama's girlfriend, I turned to Hayama. "Why don't you and those two side characters go and worry over that girl, huh?"

Hayama laughs. "I guess we should, come on, Oka, Yamato."

Hayama and the two unimportant characters exit the classroom and, just in time, Yui reappears carrying two canned drinks on her hands. She walks up to my table.

"H-Hey, I just saw them carrying Hina-chan just, now, what happened?"

"Her fantasy nearly turned to reality." Was my flat reply.

"Ah…" Yui's mouth opens in realization.

Yeah, scary, right?

"Anyway, Maki, here," she hands me a can of cold sour orange flavored vitamin-C water. "Don't know why you'd want that, because I don't think Vitamin-C does anything to stop bleeding…"

"Correction, they do help prevent you from getting scurvy, which is a disease that results in decreased hemoglobin, gum diseases, skin bleeding. Vitamin-C is essential." Just like the other vitamins out there. "But, yeah, it won't help my head directly."

"O-Oh then you better drink it." stop hurrying me, woman.

I opened the can and immediately chugs the content dry. I don't know why I wanted this drink in particular myself, but I was craving for something sour. Hmm…

"Here, let me throw it for you, Maki."

"Oh, thanks."

Saika watches our exchange, exhaling in awe. "Eeeeh… Naruto, you and Yui-chan sure are close…"

"Hm? We're in the same club after all, aren't you the same with the rest of your club members especially since you're the captain?" I'm raising an eyebrow as I returned his claim with a question of my own.

Saika laughs cutely, waving his cute little hand to dismiss my question which he's taken as a subtle compliment. "No, no, not really. We're close with each other, but they… don't really see me as the club's captain." He sighs in melancholy.

I chuckled whilst ruffling Saika's hair. "Well, can't blame them for that."

"N-N-Naruto…"

Unknown to the two of us, Yui's watching the little exchange intently.

"So nice, Sai-chan…"

"Hm, what's that?" I didn't hear you…

"N-Nothing! Anyway, sensei's almost here so-so let's return to our seats, Sai-chan!" no, Yui, how dare you whisk Saika away from me?!

Oh, looks like Yui's prediction is correct. As soon as she said that, the door slides open, revealing our middle aged Chemistry teacher. This old man looks like your generic middle aged school teacher, so don't even bother trying so hard to picture him in your mind. He walks up to the desk and is about to get the class ready for today's lesson.

"Alright class, let's begin lectures immediately." Then, he notices the empty seats. "Hm? Where are the people sitting on those chairs?"

Yui answers in our stead. "Ah, Ebina Hina-chan's sick so they're taking her to the infirmary, sensei!"

The sensei gives off a thoughtful look. "All five of them? Kids these days…"

If you keep on saying that you'll only feel older, sensei.

* * *

After school, Yui walks with me to the club room. And when I say 'walk with me' I meant dragging me by the hand to make sure that I get there in one piece. I can't believe this girl. Isn't she embarrassed? People are all looking at us with weird looks, some are even laughing and giggling to themselves. I swore I saw one or two of them taking pictures. Looks like the sight of the school's resident delinquent being dragged around is amusing to them.

"Yui…."

She's ignoring me.

"Yuiiiiii~"

Okay, she's not listening.

 _"Yui-Yui-gahama yahallo~?"_

"Kyaaaa!" that got her attention alright. "MA-MA-MA-" aww look at her, she's so embarrassed she can't even say the nickname she's given me clearly.

"Oi, who am I, your mother." Since she's stopped dragging me, I readjust my sleeve which is slightly wrinkled of Yui's rough handling. "Anyway, we're almost there so you don't have to drag around, in fact, don't drag me around for no reason."

Yui looks up and sees the ever so familiar, sticker filled plaque of our humble club room.

"Let's get inside."

"Right!"

We entered the room and as expected and usual, Yukinoshita's already inside with a book on her hand. She takes her eyes off her books and acknowledges our presences.

"Yahallo Yukinon!"

"Sup."

Our club president gives us a small smile before standing up to greet us. "Hello, Yuigahama-san, Uzumaki-kun, take a seat while I prepare your tea for you."

We do as she suggests and sit on our respective seats. I sat on my spot, on the other end of the long table opposite to Yukinoshita's spot. Yui's supposed to sit in the middle, but she places her chair next to Yukinoshita so that they could have their girl talk and all that. I brought out my school bag and retrieved my laptop. I've finished writing the latest installment and it has just hit the shelves sometime in the middle of the summer break. I've seen the sales statistics and the results were not really surprising.

I turned on my laptop and immediately opened the data that I got from Tanaka-san via email a few days ago. It's in PDF format and it's not yet updated as in it's not the latest result.

The chart's showing some pretty good numbers. About four hundreds units were sold in the first week here in Japan and sales rate increases the week after. This means that large book stores like Kinokuniya are requesting for more copies in order to fill their shelves with more of my books. I hope the printing department won't get crazy from this… God, I can't even imagine how the international sales are doing.

"Watchu looking at there, Maki?"

Being the curious little lass she is, Yui peeks over my shoulder to peek at what's on my laptop's screen. I'd scold her if I was working, but I'm not so I won't. "I'm looking at how well my newest book is selling."

"Oh." Judging from her lackluster reaction, I conclude that she's incapable of reading a sales chart.

"Oh, so you were serious when you told us that you wrote books?" Our club president questions me legitimately, even if there's an intention of a jab right there.

"Oi, of course I was…" I muttered dryly. "Here, see."

Yukinoshita, with our tea in her hands, walks over to us and takes the empty spot on my other shoulder. She, like Yui, is inches away from perching her chin on my shoulder. Hey, scooch aside a little, now I can't see!

"…this is how much you make annually?" Yukinoshita-san, why is your voice so hollow?

"Um, yeah?"

"How… how is this even legal…?" her voice is of honest confusion. "This is… this is even more than what most good paying jobs pay you!"

Wait till you see the international revenue.

"Hey, don't get mad at the fact that my book actually sells!" I complained. "And you guys are so close to me, what is this, I 3 NARUTO day or something?"

"Urk/Urk!"

They jumped two feet away from where they were before, an identical shade of red donning their faces. I looked at each of their faces, before laughing like an idiot. "Hahaha! Your faces are so red!" then I took a minute to sniff myself. "But do I really smell that bad?"

"N-No, it's nothing like that, Maki…"

"…" why aren't you saying anything, Yukinoshita? And it's a good thing that you placed the mugs before you jumped like that, otherwise you'll have to buy a new set of mugs for me and Yui.

Hm… speaking of which…

"Since when did you get a new mug?" I pointed out the change of drinking tool that I'm supposed to drink from. "Wasn't mine just a paper cup before?"

"I-I took it as an initiative to purchase a more suitable mug for you and Yuigahama-san." Is Yukinoshita's answer. She coughs, the redness on her cheeks slowly receding. "Is there any problem with it, Uzumaki-kun? Is it not to your liking?" despite the obvious sarcasm and mockery in her tone, I can also detect the honest expectation.

I shook my head, grabbing the mug. By design, it's not really flashy. It's just your normal, ceramic mug that you could easily get from a 100 Yen store. But it's not the design that got me, it's the color. I flashed a smile as well as a thumb towards Yukinoshita. "I like the color, it's rad."

"It's red? But it's orange, Maki…?"

Haaah… Yui, I forgot that you're not literate. "It's an American slang word for cool, awesome or something like that."

"Heeeh… you're fluent in English, Maki?" she asks me, curious, like a child.

I nodded. I'm not lying here. "I am." English is one of the best subjects that I excel at anyway. You should know this, Yui… not to brag or anything but I always score first or second when it comes to English. English subject in Japan is, like, easy. "Want me to prove it to you?"

"Oh, how?" she asks me.

"I don't know, what do you want me to say in English?"

"Say… 'Yuigahama wa utsukushi onnanoko desu'!" she says rather excitedly.

"Uwaaah… even from you that's a little bit too much, Yui."

"Agreed, Yuigahama-san."

With Yukinoshita and me ganging up on her, Yui's in a tight spot. "S-S-Shut up! I just wanna know what it means in English, alright?" she takes out her phone. "Here, I'll use a translator so that I could check whether you're right or not!" she activates the mic button on the translation application on her phone.

Without hesitating, I spoke in English,

"Yuigahama is a beautiful girl." I grinned. "She's a bitch."

The microphone picks up my voice and immediately translates what I just said into Japanese. What she requested and what I said at the end are simple enough to be translated by the translation application, so I'm confident that this will be a success.

'Yuigahama wa utsukushi onnanoko desu. Kanojo kuso onna desu.'

"HEY! THAT LAST PART WAS NOT NECESSARY!"

"But, at least you know that I can speak English, right?"

Yui pouts, huffing with her arms crossed under her bust as she refuses to look at me. "I don't wanna talk to you Maki, you're mean."

"Well too bad." I'm talking to you whether you like it or not. "And Yukinoshita, please stop giggling, it's out of character for you." but, I suppose, no one cares anymore about out of character-ness at this point, eh?

"W-What are you talking about, Uzumaki-kun? I wasn't in the least laughing."

"Mooou! Not you too Yukinon! The two of you are so mean to me today!" Yui's stomping her foot on the floor, throwing a tantrum like a five year old. No, even five year olds are more mature than this. "Why are you guys starting to bully me anyway?"

I raised my hand, making a very polite gesture of permission. "Um, correction, I've always bullied you. It's Yukinoshita who you want to get that question answered from."

At least this is her first time openly bullying you with me.

"What does that mean, Maki?"

Instead of me who answered, it was Yukinoshita herself. "It means this is the very first time I'm openly bullying you like this, Yuigahama-san."

"And you admitted it so easily, Yukinon! Moou! Moou! You guys are, like, the worst today!"

Despite what happened earlier this morning, we're still laughing and talking as if nothing happened.

Thus, our club activities end for the day.

* * *

I ride my bike home, duh, just like I ride my bike to school. You see, I always hate how you have to unlock your padlocks in order to, well, unlock it. It might sound weird, but it's just bothersome. Especially if you have to fiddle with a key ring like I have to.

"Stupid… little… c'mon…"

After struggling for a few seconds with the padlock, I dumped the small chunk of metal inside my bag along with my keys. With minimal effort, I pulled my bike from the narrow bike parking rack. I stuff my bag inside the basket in front of the bike and positioned myself on it. I grasped the rubber steering handle of my bike, gripping them lightly. I adjusted the position of my bike, so that I'm facing the exit gates. I pedaled out of the school's compound, taking a right so that I could make my way home.

"Hey! Uzuzu!"

I gripped the breaks of my bike as if my life's on the line. I had to use my feet to stop myself and the bike from falling down. Thankfully, I was still on the side of the road, so I won't be disturbing any bigger vehicles that will have to drive past this road. Lifting up my bike slightly, I kicked down the kick stand in order to make it stand up right.

Orimoto?

What is she…?

"Going home already?" she asks me as soon as she's near. She's wearing her school uniform, something new for me to see. Yesterday, when she visited my place, she was just wearing normal clothing. She must've had time to change clothes after school but now, it seems that she's just returned. She's holding her phone and she quickly pockets it into her blazer when she walks to approach me.

Hm… I don't recognize the school emblem on her blazer… but it looks good on her. We don't wear blazers during middle school and I don't really remember if I have ever seen Orimoto wearing one before.

Her looks turned from cheerful to worry. Oh, she must've noticed the bandages wrapped around my head. "Oh my God, what happened to you…?!"

Funny, I almost heard genuine concern on her voice there for a second. She steps forward, completely ignoring my private space, and does the same thing what Yui did earlier in the infirmary. "It's bloodied, wait, you got hurt for real? Who did this to you? What happened?"

It's starting to get annoying for me how to get asked that a lot of times today.

"Owowowowo!" that's not me, by the way. I pushed her away from me, drawing distance again, by pushing her on the forehead with two of my fingers. "Hey, what gives?!" she demands, incredulous.

"I'm fine, so don't worry about it and I'm annoyed that people won't stop asking me the same question over and over again today." I told her with a level tone. Sighing, I placed my hands akimbo, glancing down at her. "Anyway, what are you doing here, Orimoto?"

She rubs the place where I just pushed her at, namely her forehead. Orimoto gives me a sour look, but that does not affect me in the slightest. "I was just gonna go and visit you at your school, I was curious."

This… this girl…

Sighing, I shook my head. "That's not the smartest thing, Orimoto."

Still rubbing her forehead, she asks, "Why?"

"Look around you."

And she does. She looks around and notices the looks that people are giving her… us. Now I don't have a problem with this… but…

Orimoto does. Don't you, Orimoto?

Orimoto's face twists into a brief moment of realization, before she lowers her head to hide it from people's view. "O-O-Oh… sorry…"

"…I'm fine with it." God, just when I thought things were going to get better. "Anyway, are you really here just to see me?" I asked her.

Looking up, she gives me a rather complicated look. She fidgets around, stretching her arms and legs. She's nervous… she'd always do this when she's nervous. "Uh… it's… um…" and she's struggling to find words, yup, she's nervous.

Looking around me, I can see that the looks we're getting are not getting better. This will be a mess if I don't do anything now.

"Hop on." I said.

"Eh?" is her intelligent reply.

I patted on the passenger's spot on my bike.

"Let's find a place to talk. How's coffee for you?" I offered with a tilt of my head.

"Yeah, sure… that'd be nice." She returns my suggestion with the smile she had earlier.

After getting ourselves on my bike, I made sure that I'm capable of balancing the both of our weight before kicking back the kick stand. Orimoto is sitting sideways, as in, she's sitting while facing to the side. It's logical, she is wearing a skirt after all. I was about to pedal until I felt a pair of arms wrap themselves around my abdomen. I shivered and turned my head, giving my passenger a questioning look.

"What? You want me to fall from the bike?" she asks in a very, very cheeky tone.

"Well, no, but… you know what, never mind." I give up.

"I mean, I'm fine with some girl sitting on the back of my bike, wrapping her arms around me, when everyone else's looking at us or anything…" obvious sarcasm is obvious, Naruto.

"And it's not exactly legal to be riding like this anyway. If the cops see us, we're in trouble." Orimoto says, "So, maybe that could be the reason why they're looking at us?"

"Cheeky…"

She squeezed tighter. Whoa, her grip's kind of stronger than what I'd expected. "Then you just gotta have to pedal fast, yeah? Run like the wind, Uzuzu!"

"Oi, I'm not a horse." **(3)**

She just laughs. At my expense.

Anyway, I pedaled, ignoring the looks people are giving us. Let me say this: I don't actually plan on pedaling us all the way to our destination, because if they see us riding on the same bike together on the main road, they'll sic the popo on our ass and it'll be like GTA 5 all over again. We ride in silence, none of us speaking nor do we try to make conversation. It's common courtesy and safety procedure to not talk to a driver when he's on the wheels but I can't exactly use that reason, it's Orimoto's. I'm not talking because I prefer to have our conversation in a proper place, not in the middle of the road on my bike like this.

The wind rushes past us and we're going through it like a blade slicing through tatami mat rolls. The sky is a strange, yet wonderful mixture between orange and purple. Now that I'm thinking about it, isn't purple Orimoto's favorite color? I don't know, I have to ask her.

…but judging from the purple monkey plush key chain dangling from her phone which I saw earlier, I can go and take a wild guess that it is.

There's this feeling of strange content that I couldn't really describe in the air that's seemingly to make the busy, yet lighthearted environment around me even more immersive. Seeing the familiar crossroad intersection up ahead, I steadily and slowly gripped the breaks of my bike. This got me a reaction a reaction from Orimoto.

"What's wrong? Why are we stopping?" she asks me, sounding confused.

"We're about to enter the main road," it's just up ahead, actually. Left and right are just roads that leads to somewhere else in this residential area, "and I don't want to get into trouble with the police."

"Oh, alright." She unwraps her arms from my waist and gets off the bike. Now I can be an ass here and just speed off, pedaling away full speed and leaving her behind alone in the middle alone while screaming, 'See ya' and disappearing into the distance…

…but no, I'm not going to do that. Even if it would be funny.

I got off the bike too, sharing the walking experience with her. We walk side by side, my bike is the only thing that separates us, on the curb joined by other pedestrians. Suffice to say, it was the longest two minutes of my life. I parked my bike in a bike rack that they provide in front of the coffee shop's establishment; Orimoto waits quietly, which is kind of odd for her. Obviously, I took my bag with me, I mean, who wouldn't?

"Let's get inside."

"Yeah."

We enter the coffee shop, café or whatever, side by side, the automatic doors sliding open. I lead her to a spot far away on the corner of the café, obviously. I sat down and Orimoto took the spot opposite of mine. Immediately, a waitress wearing a uniform comes into scene holding two menu books for us to browse.

"Good evening, are you ready to order?"

I didn't bother opening the menu she offered me. "Hot chocolate. And cookies."

Apparently, what I ordered was funny. "Hot chocolate? Cookies? You're hilarious Uzuzu!" she laughs.

"Hey, don't judge me." what's wrong with ordering hot chocolate and cookies, huh?! I don't see people flipping out when Santa's drinking their milk and eating their cookies… I rolled my eyes at her obvious teasing. I wasn't exactly bothered with it, I guess associating myself with a person like Yukinoshita has made me desensitized over petty insults or it's just proof of how dead I am inside.

Wow, edgy.

Anyway, Orimoto, after browsing for a while, chooses what she wants to order. "I'll have one plate of hotcake and a cup of Caffe Americano."

The pink collared worker gives us her business smile as soon as she's finished jotting down our orders. "Alright, your orders will be ready in a few minutes." It better be, I mean, it's quick and easy to prepare them. Hot chocolate is just melted chocolate from the microwave mixed together with warm milk and Caffe Americano is basically just a shot or two shots of espresso mixed with hot water. Or was it a Long Black? Hm… I don't know.

And I apologize to all the hipsters in the world for my ignorance. And as for the cookies and hotcake, you have a fresh batch over there on the display on the counter.

The waitress takes the two menu book she lent us earlier and returns to prepare our orders.

Leaning my back on the soft, synthetic leather covered cushioned seat, I cut to the chase of why we're here.

"So, what do you want to talk about?"

Orimoto frowns outwardly. She looks me straight in the eye and I can already feel desire radiating from her. Truly, she's different now. I guess I'm not only talking about her looks, here. Back then, she had straight black hair, different to hazelnut brown that she has now; it's wavier too. And her makeup is more obvious, but I can get that, everyone's wearing makeup in this day and age. Of course, she looks older, but it seems that whenever she'd smile, she still radiates the same effect. Her nails are painted, but nothing too flashy or vogue-y, just a light shade of pink with a little bit of glitter on them.

If she is smiling right now, which is not the case since she's frowning currently, and I'd just happen to pass by and see her, I'd definitely identify her as Orimoto. But now that she's frowning, she feels like a stranger to me. Someone who I have never met before, especially when I took her new looks into account. I can see and hear her steadying her breathing, like a child would normally do when the doctor's about to jam a needle into their blood vein. Then her breathing ceases, she looks at me with a determined look.

"Uzumaki, I…" she breathes out one more time, "I want to start over."

"No."

…

…

The music playing in the sound systems is Chet Baker's But Not for Me, by the way.

Orimoto's expression flicks over from one to another, like a chameleon changing color. Then, she settles on laughing it off. "Hahahaha! You actually said 'no' just like that? Hahahahaha! Gosh, Uzuzu, you're so funny!"

"Orimoto-"

"Honestly, I kind of expected a 'no' for an answer, but not as soon as that."

"Ori-"

"That's why I was preparing myself all night for this, you know, when I called you last night, I was actually going to ask you about somethi-"

"Orimoto."

"-ng, but I was very nervous. I was worried that I'll be interrupting your date with the girl on the festival, so it took me like, ten minutes to decide before calling you-"

 **"Kaori!"**

My chakra flared along with my emotion in the form of an outburst. The lights in the café flickered off, the sound system malfunctions for a brief second. Everybody, customers and employees alike panics, felt the sudden disturbance and are wary, some are even taking cover under their table thinking that a tremor might have happened. Things returned to normal, left with an aftershock of my outburst, as if my chakra never flared. The lights are back on, the sound system is not screwed up anymore and the feeling of dread happened.

…people within two miles from where I'm at must've felt that.

Stupid Naruto! Dummy! Idiot!

"L-Look, O-Orimoto…" I said in a voice which is way more contained than before. She's shocked, afraid even. I need to redirect her. "Are you okay? I think a tremor happened there…"

"O-Oh, I'm f-fine. I'm fine." No she's totally not. But it seems that I managed to get the suspicion off from me. "Just shocked, that's all." She smiles, but it's more crooked than the one she was showing before.

Yeah, 'fine'.

Sighing, I leaned my back against the cushion again, calming my nerves. That's strange. Normally, I'm not this… explosive… is this another side effect of my condition? As things are settling down, the waitress from before approaches us with our orders.

"Are you okay dear customers?" the worry in her voice is not real concern. She's just worried that if one of us gets hurt, the establishment could get in trouble. She places the foods and drinks we ordered on the table, on their respective places.

"We're fine." I said quickly, hinting that we wished to be left alone.

"Very well." She bowed, before disappearing again. She's not important anyway.

I stirred my cup of warm chocolate, I said warm because it's not as hot as I would've liked it to be. Instead of drinking it, I placed it back on the table again. I want to resume our conversation, but it seems that Orimoto's distracting herself with her food. I'll wait for her. She took the first bite and she's chewing, she notices the stare that I'm giving her. Orimoto sighs, she must have figured out that she can't get out of this now.

"…I want to start over again." She starts, repeating what she just said to me before.

"…why?" I asked.

Her lips pursed, pressed against each other tightly to the point I'm afraid she'll break a blood vessel somewhere in it. "…because, I-I don't want to feel miserable like this." she looks me straight in the eye as she says this, all hints of playfulness gone. "B-Back then, after that person confessed to me, I-I talked to you and... and... I told you that..."

Ah, that's right. Now I fully remember.

She's no good explaining like this, let me do it.

* * *

 **Third Year of Middle School, Naruto**

* * *

 _"Hey, Kaori, you know that Usami Naoto-kun from class 3-G has a crush on you, right?"_

 _"Eeeeh? No way! But he's, like, the ace of the baseball club!"_

 _"I know! Maaan… I so envy you, Kaori~ you even have someone as handsome and popular as Naoto-kun to have a crush on you!"_

 _"Maa, maa, he's popular but I'm not sure if he's as handsome as you're telling me… ahaha…"_

 _Normally, normal boyfriends would walk to their girlfriend and get jealous over this kind of topic if they're nearby to overhear it. But getting jealous is beyond me. I've lived a long life to learn that jealousy brings nothing more than misery, and misery loves company. So, am I jealous upon learning that my girlfriend's apparently attracting the attention of the school's baseball ace? No, no I'm not. Am I worried, though, I guess I am._

 _Kaori's relationship with me is a secret. We decided that it's for the best for us to act like strangers, despite her constant approaches, during school. The closest we get to almost being found out was when she casually talked to me during lunch and calling me by my first name. It was taken as a mere blunder by her friends and they eventually thought nothing of it. So, technically, I don't have to be worried about anything, right?_

 _Then, why am I worrying right now?_

 _I took sneaky looks at Kaori and her friends. She's talking over by one of her friends' seat, away from mine to avoid any form of suspicion about her unknown and private relationship with me. But they're so loud that I can even see them even if I'm, like, five seats away from them. Kaori is talking with them, making sheepish expressions that I'd normally find myself making when I'm discussing something embarrassing. With my English textbook opened, I'm using the guise of studying to look at her._

 _I was about to stop listening, then the conversation turns south. And by that I mean they start talking about me._

 _"By the way, Kaori. Haven't you been… you know, talking to Uzumaki lately?"_

 _"E-Eh? What do you mean? No… no way."_

 _"Yeah, yeah! I kind 'a noticed that too. Just the other day, you called out his first name right?"_

 _"That was just a blunder! I was going to ask him to move away from the board because he's blocking some of the teacher's note, but his last name's too long! What was it again? Uzuzu…something?"_

 _"Wow, yeah, and it's Uzumaki. Urgh… that guy gives me the creep…"_

 _"Yeah, he's scary too. They said he beat up some juniors during his second year… scary, right?"_

 _Kaori, don't look at me. She almost looked at me, thankfully, she resists at the very last second. "Y-Yeah! That's totes scary!"_

 _I don't mind the insults or the baseless gossips they're throwing around, but for some reason, hearing Kaori saying them got me thinking._

 _Then school went on and I found out that Kaori's just received a letter. A confession letter. From that Naoto jerk and she's asking her to meet him on the roof, the only place where we could talk to in school. After school, I managed to hide myself as I watched the confession went on. It started typically. He was waiting there for Kaori, Kaori came up, he confessed… but she rejected him. He asked why and she came up with a reasonable reason of not wanting to date anyone right now. Good thing that he bought the reason and wasn't violent. He retreated downstairs, leaving Kaori alone._

 _I made myself known, but I had to wait and make it look like I only happen to stumble upon her on the roof._

 _"Kaori? What are you doing here?" I asked, acting my part as a clueless boyfriend._

 _I remember her giving me one of the saddest smiles she's ever shown me. "Uzuzu… I was… er…"_

 _My eyebrows furrowed. Whenever I'd do this, Kaori will know that I'm not asking her on a whim._

 _"Someone… confessed to me." she reveals, her voice small._

 _"Oh." I said 'oh'. That's the only thing I could say right there. "And… how did it go?"_

 _"I rejected him, duh, but he was Usami Naoto-kun from 3-G…" she tells me, as if I should know who he is._

 _"Who's he?"_

 _"He's, like, the school's baseball ace. A really popular guy."_

 _"…congrats, I guess?"_

 _She rolls her eyes before sighing. "You really always try to be funny regardless of the situation, huh?"_

 _"I blame my healthy pessimistic side for that." I said lamely, scratching the back of my head. "So, you rejected him. You know what's going to happen, right?"_

 _She nods. "Yeah… my friends are beginning to suspect me already, heck, I think they're suspicious about me." she giggles humorlessly. "Skipping outings, not hanging out, ditching them at lunch… they're bound to get suspicious at some point."_

 _"…you don't say…"_

 _"Hm?"_

 _"Nothing." I quickly said. I walked around, pacing myself around for no reason. "So, what are you gonna do now?"_

 _"Nothing, duh." I looked at her and was greeted by her confident smile. She walks up to me and pokes my on the rib. That didn't feel like anything, so I didn't react. "Unless… you want something to be done?" she asks me._

 _I'm supposed to be the one who asks the questions, here, Kaori._

 _But I took her question seriously. Do I want something to be done? And if so, what is it?_

 _Of course, I wanted Kaori to be safe and off the suspicion of associating with me. But what happened just now is just flashing signs about the troublesome shitstorm that might happen if this keeps on. We've been treading on thin ice, so what just happened now can be seen as the cracks starting to form one huge crevice. I want something done, but the only end result will result in her hurting. And…_

 _Do I want her hurt?_

 _I must have spent, like, a good thirty seconds to ponder that._

 _But I came up with an answer to that._

 _No, I don't want to hurt her._

 _I decided. I'm not going to hurt her so, I-_

 _"I think it's best if we break up, Uzuzu."_

 _…_

 _"My friends are getting suspicious and it's almost our graduation day… we're gonna do our finals and after that, I-we won't have much time to spend with our classmates and, so, I think that, I kind'a want to spend the remaining days of my middle school year with them. And the thing with Usami Naoto-san, just now, I'm really not interested in him. And now that I think about it…"_

 _"…"_

 _"… **it** was… dull, after all."_

 _…_

 _I knew what 'it' refers to here. My experience with her. Our experience. It was dull. I can't blame her, I mean, what use is dating anyway if you're not supposed to let other people see it? It certainly beats the purpose of having a boyfriend or girlfriend, right? In today's standards, having a boyfriend or girlfriend means that you want to show your status. They're just signs. So, yeah, I guess that I was only a 'sign' to her, but what kind of sign was I when I wasn't even shown?_

 _I'm not mad, really. Neither am I sad. I just… understood. I understood Kaori's reason for wanting to break up with me, I fully understand her._

 _Well now, that certainly saved me the trouble of leading the initiative._

 _I remember not reacting to her conclusion. I just nod, acted sad and complied._

 _After that, we stopped talking. We don't call each other anymore. We stopped seeing each other anymore. And the both of us actively tried to avoid the other. By then, we're already graduates._

 _We didn't see each other during the school's year end ceremony, I didn't attend the after party that my batch was throwing since I knew I didn't really belong with them or there at all, really. By then, I had already published Jiraiya's books and slowly making an income, I quickly forgot about her, more like I had to. I met Komachi who… is definitely someone I do not regret meeting and getting to know, I also got closer to her family._

 _Then… I got hit by a truck. It was before I started High School so it wasn't complicated, yet. Tanaka-san, being my editor and 'guardian' you could say, she dealt with the papers and I have to deal with a crying Komachi while staying in the hospital to heal. Thankfully, the accident was not bad. I even joked to the doctors about surviving another accident as soon as I was released._

 _Theeeeeen I got hit by Yukinoshita's limo._

 _Yeah, they were giving me weird looks when I was readmitted to the hospital. I swear, they must've chosen the same room because someone had a sick sense of humor. It was supposed to be my first day at high school too, so I started the semester late and was not able to make friends. When I started school, I was covered in bandages, I had a sling on my arm and I had to wear braces around my neck. Let's just say that I did not make a very good first impression._

 _My high school debut started with me getting hit by another student's limo, after getting hit by a truck months prior that accident, getting mistaken as a delinquent who fights a lot to the point where he's covered in bandages and, as a result, becoming a loner._

 _The number of records I've broken must've been equivalent to the number of bones I broke during both accidents combined._

 _So… yeah, that was my story. And the reason why Kao-Orimoto and I broke up._

* * *

 **The Present**

* * *

 _"Sniff… Sniff…"_

Girls… are unfair.

Yeah, they're unfair.

So… fucking unfair.

You know, the old me would've fussed over her, trying to make her stop crying. But the me now, now, he's just sitting there looking at a crying girl without even feeling the slightest tug on his chest. The me now does not know what to do and he stopped her only because he doesn't want everyone to look at them weirdly.

Why is she crying?

Wasn't she the one who suggested the break up? Though I was going to be the one to say it, Orimoto was the one who said it eventually instead of me. She also said why we should break up, her reasons being she didn't want to miss out on the chances of hanging out with her friends and how dull our 'relationship' was.

Then, why is she crying?

Her crying now is illogical. It does not make sense. I haven't done anything that warrants her crying and she most definitely didn't do anything to herself physically. So, why in the hell is she crying now? And I'm not talking about weeping crying, she's full on sobbing. We're getting weird looks from people nearby and I'd be lying if I said that I'm comfortable right now, because I'm not. People are whispering, giving us looks, some are even taking videos.

The nerve of them. I refocused my attention back at Orimoto and I can only come to three conclusion as to why she's crying.

 **Regret. Despair. Loss.**

I scowled. I scowled harder than all Uchiha clan members combined.

Pulling out my wallet from my bag, I slipped out the necessary amount of money to cover up my food, even if I did not end up touching any of them.

Why the fuck am I here anyway? I went along with her selfish whim of going here because I thought she was actually going to talk to me. But if she's here for the reason I think she is, then I have no reason to be here. I turned around, but my first step was halted by none other than Orimoto herself.

"W-Wait…" she says with a teary tone.

"Let go."

"N-No, Uzuzu, w-wa-"

 _"Let go of my hand, Orimoto."_ That came out like a hot steam from a kettle. She lets go, gasping, as if she's just touched a hot surface.

I walked away, my stride heavy and loud, as I ignored the restrained cries of her wails from inside the café. I glared back at some of the customers around me who could not mind their own fucking business. I exited the café and walked to my bike.

"…tch!"

In a fit, I crushed the metal padlock, along with the chain that keeps my bike from getting stolen. The sound of metal crunching and breaking underneath my pressure is a sound that I have not heard in a very long time. What made me crush the padlock, you might ask? Well, how about the fact that I just fell, got injured and found out that the chakra inside of me is fucking my body up?

I need to release it. I need to vent out. I just did before, but it wasn't enough.

Pulling out my bike, I wasted no time pedaling back home.

I need a drink.

* * *

 **1: This is an Oregairu crossover, I cannot not just use this comparison.**

 **2: Tomatoes is one of Sasuke's favorite food.**

 **3: Toy Story reference.**


	11. His and Her Circumstances Pt2

**Thank you for those who reviewed, favorited and followed this story. I'm aware that this story has more holes than a trypophobic person's nightmare, plot-holes that is, but meh, fuck it, I'll fill them up when it's time.**

 **Anyway, enough of my poor attempt at humor and let the plot-holing festivities begin.**

* * *

"Be careful! I don't want you to screw this up, especially now that we're doing this for real."

"Geez, calm down, boss. I got this and even if I screw up, technically, it's you who screwed up in the end."

"…don't pull out your technicalities on me you stupid clone."

"You know, insulting me means you're calling yourself stupid, boss."

It's like arguing with your own reflection on a mirror. Except there's no need for a mirror, because I can make real and physical copies of myself. Speaking of mirrors, there's one nearby for me to look at once my clone has finished with what I've instructed him to do. Oh, don't mind the mess, he'll clean it up later.

"Aaaaaand there! I'm done, boss!" my clone informs me. "It was hard since this is our first time using a matrix this complicated, but I don't think that there should be any problem." Then, his tone turns into a questioning one. "Remind me again, why didn't we do this, like, a _loooong_ time ago?"

I was tempted to sock the gut of my physical doppelganger right there and then, then I reminded myself that I'll need someone to clean out the crumpled papers, mop the inks that were spilled and throw away the empty ink bottle to the trash.

"The reason why I- _WE_ didn't do this sooner is because I was not even aware of my chakra fucking me up from the inside." I answered my clone. "I mean, we got that something was wrong, but there was nothing wrong, right? Today's the first time we truly feel the effect of our condition…"

"Then… what do you deduce from all of this, boss?" my clone asks me, confusion on his face.

I sighed. "To be honest… I do not know… I don't quite know, but I kind'a have an idea at the same time."

My clone snorts. "You're weird boss."

I returned his snide comment with a glare. " _You're_ weird." I sighed again. "But these are what we know: my chakra has not been working properly this whole time, not using chakra is giving me negative side effects physically, chakra circulation is messed up because of how different my body is now and I can't really gather chakra from outside means again…"

My clone nods in understanding. "So?"

"So… these" I trailed my finger across the sealing matrix that my clone has drawn on my body. It begins from the heart, forming a spiral core, then it branches all over my body, covering them in black ink. It's like a very detailed, specific and complicated tattoo design. Great, all the more reason for me not to use the public baths. **(1)** "will remedy our condition."

In the meantime, at least.

What my clone, ultimately me, have drawn all over me is a complex matrix that should be able to stabilize my already inconsistent chakra. It won't do much, but at least it will spare me from other negative physical side effects such as fainting and whatnot. I came up with the conclusion that my ailments are due to me not using chakra as actively as I used to in the past, and these seals will remedy that. Upon activation, they will require continuous flow of chakra in order to keep them activated. While it will deplete my reserves, I doubt that it will suck me dry of my chakra… hell.

But, just in case if it does happen, let me tell you, it won't be pretty.

The thing is, it's not only MY chakra that resides within me. I also have Kurama's chakra in me.

Normally, a human's reserves would not be able to hold a tailed beast's chakra along with his own, but let's just say that I'm a very special snowflake when it comes to having big chakra reserves. Yes, currently in me, I contain two chakra entities. One that is my own and another one being that of a tailed beast. My body has done a great job preventing Kurama's chakra from mixing with my own, because if that happens then the world will have to deal with a Kurama's-chakra-induced me.

My body 'shelved' my chakra, while Kurama's remain where it has always been; inside the seal. Since Kaguya took away chakra, aside from my own, I could not replenish chakra on my own so should my chakra depletes, I should die, but I'm immortal so I can't die… gah! This is confusing! Man, not only did that bitch made my life miserable, she also made it complicated! Logically, when my original chakra is depleted, my body will immediately seek out the other source of chakra available inside of me, which is Kurama's chakra. So, then, theoretically, I'll be living off from a tailed beast's chakra reserves for the rest of my immortal life!

My clone notices the mixture of complicated expressions flashing on my face so he calls out to me worriedly. "Eh, boss, you okay?"

I noticed his call and took a deep breath. I breathed out. "I'm… not okay." My expression contorted into a hard one. "We're not okay, dammit."

"But… at least we'll be okay for the meantime, right?" he asks me.

I nod, though hesitant. "Yeah." I sighed out tiredly.

He smiles. "Good." He rubs the back of his head, an action I'm all too familiar with. "And, eh, boss, I know this seems weird coming from your clone – _yourself_ basically – but try not to do anything stupid, mmkay?" he flashes me an all too familiar smile. I can see the worry on his face.

I looked at him pensively, my eyes fixed on my clone. I nodded, this time with more confidence than before. "Sure. But you know yourself, he's known for doing stupid stuffs."

The bastard laughs heartily, one that prompted me to smile too. "Anyway, I'll dismiss myself, call me again, boss!"

Aaaand my doppelganger bursts into a cloud of smoke, disappearing from existence. I looked around my apartment room, now realizing that the mess around me.

"That bastard tricked me into dismissing him early!"

Damn you, me… damn you…

Thankfully, tomorrow's a holiday, so I don't have to worry about dealing with Yukinoshita's 'touching' words or Yui's airheadedness. The last of my fresh batch of clones have dismissed themselves after making this apartment sparkling clean. I don't know how a Shadow Clone actually works, but if I have gotten the bastard that tricked me into dismissing him earlier with his smooth talking…

Haaaah.

I slumped back into my couch, after stretching my body. Whilst my clones were cleaning the apartment, I did a last minute adjustment on my seal. Nothing much, really, just finishing touches that will ensure the probability of it working is higher than usual. Leaning forward, I raised my back from the couch so that I'm sitting up straight. I should be doing this on the floor, but I'm too lazy to move currently.

Forming a ram seal with my hands and fingers, I pulled myself into a state of semi-meditation. I said 'semi' because I don't want to get in too deep into subconsciousness. I can't exactly describe what it is that I'm feeling, but it's along the lines of having every single hair on your body standing upright the moment you activate the seal.

"Fuin!" My chakra spikes.

A small burst of energy rattles my room, causing some of the pictures I hanged on the wall to rattle and tilt.

I opened my eyes and lowered my hand. Looking around, I can confirm that my vision's not affected in some way, the same goes for my hearing and touch. I stood up from my couch, standing tall on my full height. I bounced up and down from my spot, making sure that my sense of equilibrium is working properly. After several laps around the room, walking, everything seems fine.

"Hm…" but I'm not sure just yet. I walked to my bed, where the large mirror that I used earlier is at. Taking off my shirt, I took a look at my reflection shown on the surface of the mirror. The black ink flashes white, typical for a seal to do so moments after being activated, but the shining died down, returning to its unquestionable and innocent appearance. I smiled and it's reflected back to me on the mirror. "Good."

Oh, I can already feel it. It's slow but… it's definitely expelling my chakra alright, in small amounts of course. Now, I need to put my shirt back on again…

Now that I'm sure that the seal is working properly, I can congratulate and celebrate with a cold can of beer.

Let me grab it… oh, here it is.

Asahi Super Dry.

I took a quick chug, burped and squashed the can thin before dunking it inside the trash bin like any true man would do.

"Hm?" I felt vibration going off from my pocket. Naturally and obviously, I pulled out my phone to check. "A message from Komachi?" I slid the screen open, viewing the message.

 **From: Best Imouto 4evah Komachi!  
To: Oniiiiiii-chan**

Hey, don't judge her.

 **Onii-chan! Can u come over and  
eat dinner with us? Mom will be home tonight  
and she wants 2 eat dinner with u (^_^)**

Oho? Now this is something that does not happen every day. Tanaka-san, Komachi's mom, is always busy dealing with work related stuff. With me. I'm not trying to make it sound like it's impossible to meet her without any prior notice or anything, which is not the case for me since I see her all the time I'm needed in the publisher's office. Maybe the higher ups finally gave her and her team a break after a month full of schedule? Yeah, it's the most reasonable reason.

Anyway, I better text her back.

 **From:** **Oniiiiiii-chan  
To: Best Imouto 4evah Komachi!**

 **K. I'll meet u 2 ur house.**

And send.

Okay, now that Komachi is notified… I guess I'll go and take a bath now? Yeah, I guess I should. I wouldn't want to come over to Komachi and Tanaka-san's house all sweaty and smelly now do I?

Hey, personal hygiene is important after all.

Entering my bathroom with my towel in hand, I closed the door behind me. I don't bother locking because, obviously, I live alone. I placed my towel in the sink and then I proceeded to undress. I have both a shower and a bathtub, the bathroom's big enough to have two of those. Since it's almost time for dinner, I guess I'll just take a quick shower.

Stepping into the shower, I twisted the knob that releases the cold water. The moment the ice cold water hits me, my body shivered in delight. I like taking cold showers, it helps me deal with all the troublesome things that I've done during the day.

And today's not an exception.

My mind lingered back to my encounter with Orimoto earlier this evening. Knowing Orimoto, despite how blunt and bubbly she is, it must've taken her every single ounce of her confidence to talk to me in that café. And I just had to leave her there, crying. In my time 'dating' her, she never cried once. She'd get upset a lot of times, but not to the point of crying. Which is why I… 'overreacted' when I saw her cry. But I still can't help to think that she's in no position to cry.

Even now, I'll admit that I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed when it comes to raw brain power, but even I know what she did wrong. She wanted to start over, as she's stated in her own words, but what right did she has? She was the one who told me that it was best for us to break up and not see each other again, and I agreed with that, I really did. She even said that our time together was dull. If it was dull then… why start over?

And to begin with, it's not like she's really in love with me, right?

Our 'dating' status wasn't even known, because of my concern that she'd be treated badly and Orimoto also revealed that her friends were beginning to get suspicious about our relationship. So, technically speaking, I did nothing wrong. In fact, I did the right thing. And she should be happy that she got to spend time with her friends in the end so, why cry? If she said that she'd be happy if we end our relationship, why did she ask for a start over?

"Ngggh…" I stretched my grunt as I leaned forward, using my hands to support myself so that I wouldn't fall… again. I raised a hand to touch the spot around my head where I was bleeding from and, as expected, I'm not seeing or feeling any blood. If only regeneration works as fast as this when it comes to broken bones…

I continued showering for another minute before stepping out to dry myself with my towel. I got a quick change of clothes which consist of a dark red t-shirt, a pair of black slacks and an orange tracksuit. I stepped out of my apartment room after putting on my sneakers and I made sure to lock the door.

I may not be in the best of moods right now, but I'm sure that it's nothing Komachi's cooking could not fix.

* * *

"Ah, Onii-chan, come on in!"

I stepped into the house as if I'm a member of this household, which I kind of am, and made sure to take off my shoes and socks on the shoe rack placed inside the house. I heard Komachi's voice from the kitchen, she must've just finished setting the tables. I looked around, inspecting the hallway of the house. This is house is kind of large, but it's not that large. Living in a house like this is probably better than living in an apartment… hm… maybe I should find myself a house?

"Meow~"

Oh!

I saw a white, feline creature approaching from the halls towards me. I kneeled down and ruffle the white bundle of cuteness. "Hey there Dog, been a good cat?"

God that sounds so weird.

"Meooow~" of course, his intelligent reply is to meow at my question. I smiled and began to stroke his head, eliciting a purr from the cat. I let Dog go and he slinks away as soon as I do so.

"Onii-chan, please wake mom up in the living room! She's probably asleep at the couch or something."

I walked into the living room and, indeed, just as Komachi said, her mom's asleep on the couch. What are you, an ESP? I stared the sleeping form of Tanaka-san and I could not help but contemplate. Why do the mature women around me have such a weird behavior? I mean, it's enough that I had to deal with Hiratsuka-sensei who complains about her single life most of the time, why does my editor have to be a closet slob too?

Currently asleep on the couch, in front of the TV which is airing a live Manzai performance, is Hikigaya Tanaka, Komachi's mom. She's a beautiful woman, I have to admit, and she's the reason why Komachi has her dark hair and greyish blue eyes. She looks like a taller, bustier and longer haired version of Komachi, except she's not as cute nor is she as… gifted when it comes to kitchen skills like her daughter. So, Komachi must've gotten her aptitude for kitchen skills from her dad, either that or she had to learn how to cook all by herself due to her mom being like this.

And the fact that this woman is currently asleep while beer cans are littered around her does not help her image as a responsible adult. I mean, Tanaka-san's good at doing her job, but this and that are two different things. Sighing, I poked her on the cheek. "Tanaka-san, wake up."

She does not budge.

I tried again. "Wake up."

Again, nothing.

I sighed. "Tanaka-san, if you don't wake up, I'll quit writing for real this time." I crossed my arm and waited for the result.

And the result is instant. Her eyes snapped open like a character from a horror movie and she jumps off the couch to land on her two feet. She looked around quickly, trying to find the person who has uttered the forbidden words, namely, me. Oh, she's finally looking at me. Her expression twists into anger, then horror, anger, horror, delight, anger and finally horror. Without warning, she grabs me by the collar, giving me a dangerous glare that could make a new employee piss their pants. But I'm used to violent women. Story of my life.

" _What_ did you say?" her voice is like the sound of a gas tank hissing. It reeks of danger.

However, I did not hesitate replying. "I said, if you don't wake up, I'll quit writing for real this time."

Her glare hardens. Her arms are shivering, probably from fury. Then, her grip loosens. She lets me go, but nothing changes since I'm taller than her. "You… if the guys back at the office heard you say that, they'll seriously riot y'know?"

I placed my right hand akimbo, maintaining my flat stare. "I know, which is why I threatened you with that." otherwise, nothing else would've worked. "Now hurry up, your daughter's almost done with preparing the food." I glanced over her for a moment. "And did you just return from work?"

The both of us walked to the dining room, where Komachi's just done putting up the eating utensils on the table. Finding our place on our respective places, she finally answered me, with a grumble.

"Yeah… the higher ups are being unreasonable again." She pouts while glaring at me at the same time. "And you're to blame for that."

I raised an eyebrow, while my hand accepts an empty bowl that is handed to me by Komachi. "My fault? How is that my fault?" what's with me and my tendency to get blamed for the things that I may or may not do by women?

And the way she's pouting; she's Komachi's mom alright…

"Let's just say that your latest book is doing… _a little bit too well_." She says. Komachi places a bowl of steaming rice in front of her.

Oho? "And how is that a problem, woman?" I asked with a raspy voice. "Shouldn't you, you know, be happy?"

She shrugs in a cynical and sarcastic manner in response to my question. "If we _aren't_ the ones who print them, then it wouldn't have been a problem." Rudely, she points her chopsticks at me. "Do you know how busy we were with all the printing request we received?" she articulates her words slowly, trying to sound as serious as she could. Something that I can't seem to take her for at the moment.

"Uh, a lot?" I've seen several book stores run out of stock on the way here…

"Yeah, _a lot_." She sighs, shaking her head with a complicated look on her face. "To be honest with you, I'm both happy and mad at the fact that your book is actually selling well. Too well." She sinks her chopsticks into her rice bowl, picking up rice and putting them inside her mouth.

"That's not a really good reason to blame me for, Tanaka-san… in fact, I think that I've been doing a great job."

"Yeah, _too_ great of a job…"

Komachi suddenly intervenes, chuckling after watching our interaction. "Maa, maa, isn't it great that Onii-chan's doing a good job with his job as an author? That way, Onii-chan can come here and buy me stuffs whenever we'd go out on a date!"

I snorted at my (un)related little sister's cheekiness and obvious playfulness. But apparently, her mother does not share the same sense of humor.

"What?! You've been going on dates with him?!" Oi, woman, don't point your chopsticks at me, it's freaking rude. Not to mention, you're the owner of the house here!

"Well, yeah!" Komachi answers her mother as if she's the one who is wrong. "What's wrong with that?"

"Komachi, do you know the kind of dangerous and vulgar thing that that man writes for a living?"

"Those dangerous and vulgar things that man writes are books that YOUR company publishes!" I snapped, now it's my turn to point the chopsticks.

It's like, an Asian dinner battle where we point our chopsticks at each other and ultimately discuss about our lackluster jobs and how much money we're making.

Instead of correcting and apologizing for insulting my work, she scoffs. "Still doesn't make it any better, Uzumaki-kun." God, why is this woman so unreasonable?! She returns to her food, but in the midst of our eating, she speaks to me again, albeit in a more serious tone this time. "And once you're done eating, let's talk outside, I want to talk to you about something."

I noted the lack of cynicism and scolding tone in her voice. Looks like she wants to talk to me for real.

"Then I'll wait for you," I stood up from my seat, "I'm done eating anyway."

"So fast!"

"Wow, you're like a food ninja, Onii-chan!"

If only you know… Komachi… if only you know…

I made my way out from the dining room, to the halls, to the living room and then outside to the backyard. It's not a big yard, just a few square meters wide with grass and plants that Komachi grows on the side. But there's a wooden veranda connected to the living room, separated by a sliding glass door. This is normal for Japanese houses; at least, those that are meant to have a family living in it. I sat down on the wooden tiles of the veranda, letting the warm yet breezy evening wind breeze past me.

I'm joined in my peaceful state by a still-dressed-in-her-work-attire Tanaka-san. She holds a pack of cigar in one hand. She takes the empty spot to my left then she nudges me by using the cigarette pack as contact.

"Wanna smoke?" she asks me with a raised eyebrow.

I narrowed my eyes. "…you don't look like the type of person who smokes, Tanaka-san."

She snorts. "Speak for yer'self..."

But I took her up on that offer anyway. I took a stick of cigar from the pack, she then lights it up for me. Again, I don't always smoke, but I suppose it's fine for me to smoke here since it's not somewhere in public. I inhaled cancer, and then I exhaled it back to the world.

Hey, that was actually very poetic. Let me write that down in my mental notepad…

The scent of tobacco lingers around us as we, two smokers, populate the air with carbon monoxide.

Then, out of the blue, Tanaka-san speaks up. "Uzumaki-kun, do you know how… important your reputation is in the literature community?"

I took a moment to smoke, before eventually answering her question. "Not that important. It's not like I'm a celebrity or anything, hell, what's the reason I used a penname for then? I don't want attention, don't need it, if that's what you're asking…" do you know how violent a fanbase can be, woman?

She nods, as if agreeing with me. Whether she agrees of the unimportance of my real identity or my lack of interest in getting public attention, I guess it's the former. "True. You're Uzumaki Naruto, a delinquent," Oi, "high school student with the tendency to get hit by moving vehicles" Oi, "and you have a very unhealthy obsession with ramen."

"…are you just going to insult me or what?" if so, then I'm gonna head inside.

"But, in the world of literature, you're Jiraiya. A famous erotica writer known for his Icha Icha series, a seventeen year old teen author who's broken sales record that most veteran authors couldn't and my… insurance policy for Komachi's safety." So that's how you view me as, huh?

"So, what does this have to do with you wanting to talk to me outside?" I asked. "And what about my identity as Jiraiya? What does it has to do with my personal life?"

"While it's true that your author identity is completely separate from your real one, it kind of matters when people know what you look like."

I'm… sorry?

She notices the confused look on my face. "What I'm saying is that you're quite well known in public, in fact, you have people stalking you on social media, posting pictures of you coming out from a public restroom on their Facebook page."

"Yeah, I noticed that. But what will a harmless stalker post do to my rep?" I asked, this time sounding confused. "It's not like I'm involved in a scandal."

"It's not a scandal." She pulls out a small rectangular object from her blazer's pocket. It's her phone. "Yet, at least." She hands it to me.

I looked at the screen and it's a Youtube video.

My eyes gradually went wide.

" _W-Wait…"_

" _Let go."_

" _N-No, Uzuzu, w-wa-"_

" _Let go of my hand, Orimoto."_

…the video shows me exiting a familiar looking coffee shop leaving behind an all too familiar girl crying to herself. The bastard who filmed the whole thing mutters something that I didn't bother listening to because I was just so damned… stupefied. I mean, look at the title!

 **EPIC REJECTION WENT WRONG!**

Whoever posted this must've watched too much prank channels…

Someone actually caught us on camera? And they posted in on Youtube?

Curious, I looked at the view.

A hundred thousand views?! Shit, don't you guys have like, better things to do?! And it's on trending?!

I closed my eyes, my face distorting into annoyance.

What is this… I… it's…

"Yeah, now you see why it matters?"

"No." I bite back. "It does not matter, Tanaka-san… this…"

"Oh yeah, look at the comments."

And I did.

 **Lol, isn't that Jiraiya-sensei? wwwwww did he make that girl cry?**

 **Awww, so mean of him. Too bad he's good looking too.**

 **Dis is y good looking men r the worst. dey think they can break a girl's heart jus cuz they're handsome.**

 **Man… can't believe my favorite author is such an ass… now I feel bad recommending his work to my friends.**

Well you can suck my cock, buddy…

I returned the phone back to Tanaka-san. Taking a really long drag from my cigar, I exhaled the smoke back out along with a sigh. "Is… the company bothered by this?"

Tanaka-san shrugs. "Not really. Your books are selling too well for something like this to hinder their sales, so financially, we're just as good as if nothing happened. But… it's your image that's taken the shot."

Heh.

…

…

"…what should I do, Tanaka-san?" I didn't know what I exactly mean by that, but she answers me anyway.

"Do what you gotta do. Again, it's true that your private life is separate from your author identity, but it won't do us any good if anything like this pops up again. Be thankful that we got some guys ready to take the video down for you, but by now, copies of the video are probably already spreading locally as we're speaking. You know how fast social media is." Don't forget how cancerous people can be over there…

"Yeah…" I tasted bitterness in my mouth, not really sure if it's the cigar… "I'll… be careful from now on."

Rather than giving me any more advice like any reasonable and responsible adults would do, she waves her hands. "It's fine, we're still doing well. Besides, just as you've said, it's not like you're in scandal or anything." Then she glares at me. "Just make sure that Komachi doesn't find out about this."

I snorted. "I may be dumb, but I'm not dumb enough to let my dear little (un)related sister worry about me over something like this."

"Uwaaah… looks like it was a mistake to let you hang around Komachi after all. You siscon." She sports a teasing grin.

"I'd have to be her real brother to be a siscon."

"Then lolicon."

"Hey, now that's too far."

* * *

I like the internet… while it's definitely a fun place to explore, it can also be scary, dangerous and downright cancerous most of the time. The internet is like an ocean and what we usually see when we open search engines like Google or Yahoo or even Bing, god who use that anyway, we're only seeing the tip of the iceberg. The more time to spend on the surface, the more you'll likely to find yourself sinking into the deepest, unfathomable parts of the internet. Now let me say this, I don't wanna be responsible for whatever trauma or PTSD inducing aftermath that you might experience, but there are times when… things that belonged in the deep web, surfaced to the surface web.

Like, all sorts of nasty shit, urgh.

I'm not gonna talk about that, and I don't think I'll ever talk about that, but what I'm trying to say is that the internet's a very big place… and what happens when you have a very big place that with a very large amount of people residing in it and a very fast means of transferring information?

You have social media.

And what happens if you have a video of you making a girl cry going viral on the world's number one video-sharing website?

You get rumors. Nasty, baseless rumors about you being talked about and spread throughout the whole entire school.

"Hey, hey isn't he…?"

"Yeah, it's totally him…"

"He's the guy that made that girl, cry, right?"

"Yeah… what an ass…"

I haven't even reached my classroom yet and I'm already being talked about. How pleasant. How fucking pleasant.

Haah…

Forgive me if I sound or appear… mad or frustrated. It's just that this whole thing is bugging me out more than it should be. For some reason, I could not ignore the whispering and judging looks sent my way like usual, I found myself to be more sensitive towards them, in fact. I've had people talk shit about me a lot of times in this school, but for some reason, this is getting under my skin.

Sliding open my classroom's door, I can feel everyone's eyes on me. They looked away when I returned their look with one of my own. I walked to my seat and the moment I reached it, I plugged in my earphone and cranked the volume up to the max. I don't care if the sound of Daft Punk's Instant Crush is bleeding out from the earphones, they can enjoy the music for all I care.

I can still feel their stares at me, of course, but I don't feel like competing with them in a staring contest. With my face buried into my arms and against the flat surface of the table, I closed my eyes, trying to drift off into sleep.

…but I couldn't, someone just had to poke me on the arm.

With minor annoyance, I looked up to see the concerned and worried expression of one particular clubmate of mine, Yuigahama Yui. My expression softens and I cranked down the volume, just low enough to hear her voice while still listening to the music.

"Sup." I said, albeit casually.

"…are you okay, Maki?"

I blinked, then I waved my hand. "I'm fine, I'm not hurt anymore, see?" I turned my head, so that she can see the lack of wound at the back of my head. "No need to worry about."

But that does nothing to wipe the worried expression on her face. I frowned. Dammit, Yui, if you're giving me that look then I have no choice but to talk to you…

Sighing, I pinched the bridge of my nose while sucking air through the gaps of my teeth. I looked at her again. "So… you saw the video?"

She fidgets around, looking mighty uncomfortable. I'm the one who should be uncomfortable here, girl. "Yeah, someone shared the video on the school's public webpage… everyone saw it."

I nodded. "I see." Then, I snorted. "Great."

"It's not great, Maki…" Yui purses her lips, shaking her head at my sarcastic remark. "You'll… your reputation is at stake here, people will spread false rumors about you."

I shook my head, but I answered her. With a question.

"Do I look like the type of guy who cares about how other people see him as?" it's meant to be rhetorical, so don't answer. "And my reputation wasn't that great to begin with, anyway, so this is nothing." I said to her, before giving her a smirk. "It's you who should worry about your reputation, Yui. You wouldn't want to be seen with the guy who made a girl cry in public, after all."

"N-No."

She answers, albeit stuttering, immediately. My smirk fades away when I saw the persistence and seriousness of her expression.

She shakes her head. "I don't care too." she says with a firmer tone than the one before. "I know that Maki would not just make someone cry like that, I know that. So… later, at the club, let's talk about it along with Yukinon, okay?" she smiles.

Does she… pity me?

No… she's way too sincere for that. Yuigahama Yui is a nice girl who tries to understand other people, even if they are as enigmatic as me. She knows that I hate being pitied, she learned about it when I confronted her about that accident with her dog and Yukinoshita's car. I saw a clear and familiar look flashed on the surface of her eyes.

 **Desire. Want. Understanding.**

…Yuigahama Yui is a nice girl. Too nice for her own good.

That's the conclusion that I came up with.

"Sure." I replied, reassuring her with a small smile. "But I don't think I can come to club in time, the school might want to talk to me about this whole thing." I told her.

It's obvious since the video was shared in the school's webpage and I happened to wear the Soubu's uniform. It's an unspoken but widely understood rule in every education institution. If you did or were involved in something stupid, serious or dangerous while wearing your school's uniform, the school is indirectly responsible for whatever happened to you or what you did.

And since Soubu's a prestigious school, I can guarantee my ass being called to the counselor's office after school today.

Yui nods in understanding. "Un. Okay, I'll tell Yukinon…"

So homeroom period started and surprisingly, Hiratsuka-sensei didn't say anything. But she did give me a look before leaving the class. First period, which is Statistics, was over before I even knew it. Maybe it's because I wasn't listening to the lectures at all, but same difference. Second period is English and luckily, the teacher does not bring up my name to read any passage or walk up to the board or anything like that. Third period comes and it's Biology. I tuned out the teacher's explanation about hormones and how our body responds to certain stimuli such as fear, pain and pleasure.

The bell rang and it's break time. I walked out the classroom and the moment I exited the class, everyone's whispering already. The way to the mess hall is filled with people giving me judging looks, whispering nonsense about me and yadayada. Anyway, when I reached the mess hall, I'm thankful that the waiting line's short so that I could buy bread, milk and then enjoy them back in class.

"Katsu sandwich. And chocolate milk." I ordered.

"Here you go." The mess lady hands me my orders. "That'll be 400 Yen."

I handed her the necessary amount of money, before turning to leave.

"Oi, oi, if it isn't Uzumaki…"

I stopped dead on my tracks.

"I'm talkin' to ya' mister I-made-a-girl-cry-in-public!" the owner of the voice jeers in his unpleasant and rowdy glory. Of course, he has friends to back him up with laughter.

I turned to look at the source of annoyance. I was greeted by six dudes with atrocious hairstyle that violates the school's rules and regulations about personal appearance. They're all shorter than me, duh, so I had to look down on them to meet their eyes. I stood silent, unknowingly creating tension that everyone is beginning to feel. But my lack of response to their appearance or remark seems to only serve as a source of irritation for their leader.

"I'm talkin' to ya', blondie!" the leader growls, her expression twisting into pure irritation. The mess hall is silent, no doubt, and everyone's looking at us as if we're performers in an opera. Their leader is the tallest of the bunch, but he's like, what, 170 centimeters? He stood right at my chin's level, so from where I'm standing, his glare is… not doing a good job of being intimidating. Oh, I'm perfectly aware of what he's trying to do here, but I don't really see the necessity in confronting me in front of a huge crowd like this. There are just too many downsides for him and his friends.

One: since he's made it obvious that he's the one who confronted, spoke and showed aggression to me first; the consequence would hang heavily on his and friend's side of the scale. That is if I did not respond to his approaches, remarks and comments.

Two: everyone is staring. While I could only careless about my and their reputation, I'm sure that him and his gang cared about theirs. If… let's say… they were to be the ones humiliated, then they'll have to carry that humiliation for the rest of their school year. But who knows, I'm not in a position to speak about humiliation… at least not after what went viral.

And three: this will all be recorded as a part of their behavior in the reports. If things do indeed goes… _south_ and the end result ended in bloodshed, broken jaws, fractured ribs and major lacerations all over someone's body, it'll be recorded as a misconduct on their part – maybe mine too – and it will affect their future. Colleges and other higher education institution tend to avoid violent students nowadays.

Ah, by the way, with how long I've been ignoring him, it's safe to say that he's pissed. But I'm a jerk, so I don't care.

I stared at him, long and hard.

Hm…

"Do I know you?"

I can hear the sound of his vein popping.

"…do I know you…" he mutters, darkly. "Do I know you… he said…" then, he snaps. "IT'S ME! THE GUY WHOSE BIKE YOU PISSED ON!"

His bellowing echoes throughout the silent mess hall.

I… shrugged. "Sorry, doesn't ring any bells." I said, flashing him a sincerely apologizing look.

"LIKE HELL IT DOESN'T!"

I glared at him. "Oi, oi, don't shout, you're hurting my ears here…" and look at everyone, you're making things awkward! "And what's this about pissing on somebody's bike? The last time I pissed on somebody's bike is that one time where I pissed on this crappy looking tricycle near the corner of a convenient mart around he-"

"THAT WAS MY _BIKE_ YOU ASSHOLE!"

Oh… "Ooooooooh…" I played around with how I said my 'Ooooh's'. "So that was your bike…" With my free hand, I tapped a knuckle on my forehead. "Sowwy, teehee!"

"GAAAAAAAAAAAHH!" He went all Terry Crews on an Old Spice commercial.

Shouting is not going to do anything to me, unless you're a human with the soul of dragon, tasked with the birth-bound duty to slay a world-eating dragon somewhere in Viking heaven and saving the world to which then you could use a form of Unrelenting Force projected from the sheer power of your voice. **(2)**

Yeah… I need to stop playing too much videogames; my analogies are getting worse by the chapter.

Anyway, it's looking obvious that the guy isn't doing too well in restraining himself. His face is so red, I'd liken him to an apple if it wasn't so damn ugly.

"You…" I can feel the fury shaking in his voice. He might not be a Dragon-born-hero, but it's definitely enough to show that he's pissed. "Raaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

There are three types of people in this world. One is those who can control their emotion and vent them out during the right time and using the right means. Another one is those people who could not, despite their best effort, control their emotions at all and will burst like a balloon when pressured. And the last one is those people who are too damned lazy to even control their emotion but somehow managed to contain and refrain themselves from exploding into a flurry of righteous yet unreasonable fit.

And my senpai in front of me, who has his fist cocked back and aimed at my face, is none of those three examples.

He just needs a way to release the frustration, humiliation of being ignored and not recognized.

In my eyes, he is moving at a veeeery slow speed. It's like looking at that one slow motion video in the internet. My eyes are not special, aside from being a gorgeous shade of blue, but they're trained enough to a point where they could capture his 'punch' – and I'm using the term loosely – at a very slow speed. So slow that it gave me enough time to think of what to do in order to respond to the act of violence.

Obviously, I'll need to avoid or at least prevent myself from being hit. Or I could just take the hit, which won't come close to hurting me, and act like nothing happened. But that'll just aggravate my oppressor even more… hm… it's harder than I thought. Let's see… I could side step and just dodge, but he'll definitely follow up with another punch. And his friends will join in the fray and I'd have to deal with them in the end.

Or I could avoid it and run, but I don't want to play a game of cat and mouse when it's still recess, I mean, I wanna eat my katsu sandwich here man.

Either way, I had to deal with them and the teachers in the end so, might as well strike while the iron is hot.

But…

I remembered what my clone told me.

"… _but try not to do anything stupid, mmmkay?"_

'Try not to do anything stupid'. Will retaliating to violence considered as something 'stupid'? I suppose, taking into consideration of my already sinking reputation, it is rather foolish to retaliate… with violence at least.

But what if I retaliate with pure, unfiltered jerkishness?

Yeah, I suppose that'll do.

So, where was I, oh right, the punch. It's just inches away from hitting my chin, and being the reasonable human being who definitely did not want to get hit – even if it was from a rather lame and poorly executed uppercut – I leaned back, letting his fist hit nothing but air.

I did not stop there, of course, no sirree.

I ducked, fiddled around with his belt, and swiped it faster before you could say 'Naruto no swiping!' **(3)**. The guy, due to the lack of target for his fist to connect it, stumbles forward into me. I stopped him from falling onto me by breaking his fall.

"Whoa, there senpai, watch out." his left shoulder crashed to my palm, causing him to cough at the impact. While his attention's all jumbled up from the slight pain, my left hand swiftly and sneakily swipes the leather wallet peeking out from his back pocket. Of course, I did all of this without him, his friends or our audience knowing. I transferred the wallet to my right hand, which is still holding his belt and now his wallet too. "You might fall and hurt yourself there." Not as much as your ego.

"Y-You…!"

But I wasn't done. I raised my right hand, and everyone – including the guy and his friends – sees the two items I'm holding. I could hear several people giggling from the sidelines. Doing this, I've successfully redirected the attention of my senpai over here elsewhere. And in the meantime, my other hand proceeds to work. The collar of his shirt, which is already messy and unbuttoned for me to work with, makes for an excellent target for me to mess around with. His tie, which is tied loosely, is just disheveled enough for me to fully untie and swipe from his person.

Now I have three of his possessions with me.

"O-Oi! The fuck yer doin' with my stuffs?!"

The laughter, giggling, chuckling are getting louder. My supposed-to-be bully cannot help but notice this.

"I'm just taking them off from you, senpai." I said in the most nonchalant voice that I could muster. "You don't look like you'll need your belt with how tight your pants are, your tie's not doing that good of a job making your uniform look proper and your wallet…" I took a peek inside and a moth flew out of it. "…is filled with nothing but air. Oh, you have a 500 Yen ramen voucher, neat. Looks like it's not completely empty after all."

I peeled out a picture which is slipped into one of the many compartments of the wallet.

"Who's this, a picture of your sister?" I showed him the picture of a good looking lady.

"That's my mom you asshole!"

"…"

…

Everyone, including some of the guy's friends, erupted into laughter.

I took a step back in shock. "W-Whoa… she's your mom…" I raised the small picture in front of me, comparing it side by side with the guy. "Meh, could've fooled me."

The laughter grows in volume and when he's red with anger, now my senpai is red with nothing more than embarrassment.

I slipped the picture back into the compartment where it originally belongs and shut the wallet close. I leaned forward and began to dress my senior properly.

I started with the belt.

"You see, senpai, if you're going to use a belt, make sure that it's not too small for your waist." I clipped the belt, although there's slight resistance in doing so.

Next, the tie.

"It's hard at first, but if you do it all the time in front of a mirror you should be able to figure it out yourself." I chastised him, akin to that of a mother to her son. "See, it's simple. You start with the wide end of the tie on the right and the small end on the left… move the wide end over the small end to the left like this… up into the neck and loop it from underneath… down the left… around the back… up the center like so… through the loop and down the right… across the front to the left… up into the loop… down the loop… aaaaand then you tighten the knot by pulling down on the tie like-

I… might have pulled a little tad too hard.

-this."

Okay, now I can liken him to an apple. His whole form is shivering in pure and unfiltered shame, his eyes refuse to look anywhere else but the floor and his friends are not doing anything other than laughing at him. I smiled.

Like the devil I was.

Then I patted his head.

"There you go, senpai, now you look… eh… about four percent better than before!"

Oh, by the way, while doing all of that, I had to place my sandwich and chocolate milk at a nearby table.

I took a moment to admire my work. "Hm, hm. Yes, this is definitely better than before." I nodded one last time before grabbing my lunch and then making my way back to class.

"Woohoo! Way to go Uzumaki!"

"Yeah, that'll teach that punk not to mess with us juniors!"

"Hahaha! This is sooooooo getting into twitter!"

How to get rid of a viral video about you?

Well, you don't, but what you could do is give the public a better material to exploit.

* * *

"Ah, Maki!"

I returned Yui's greeting with a wiggle of my eyebrows. "Sup."

Yui walks over to my spot on the table, leaning towards the table. "Say, say, what happened in the mess, was that you who did that to a senpai of ours?" she asks like the curious little hamster she is.

"Did what, Yui? I need you to be more specific here…" despite the serious tone that I used, my grin is threatening to split my face.

Yui pouts, realizing that I'm messing with her. "Muu… you know what I'm talking about, Maki… the senpai who you humiliated in front of everybody else!"

"Oh, what's this about Uzumaki-kun humiliating someone in front of a lot of people?" it seems that the topic of our conversation has garnered the undivided attention of our esteemed club president. Yukinoshita tilts her head as she directs her gaze upon me and Yui, like a princess addressing her court.

"Listen to this, Yukinon, so, like, when third period starts, everyone was talking about…"

I tuned out Yui's explanation about my public display of humiliation that I committed during recess earlier this morning. Taking out my laptop from my bag, I turned the power on and began my work. Yes, work. I need to start working on a new manuscript, if I delay it any longer than I had to, I'll sink into a slump. And then Tanaka-san will get all violent like that one time I sunk into a slump.

Yeah, the life of an author is a complicated one.

"Oho? Is that so…" I heard Yukinoshita muttering with amusement in her tone. "I must say, while I do not like the attention you've imposed on yourself, handling such matters like that is definitely a better form of retaliation than outright violence." She claps, once. "Well done, Uzumaki-kun, I'm impressed."

"Thanks, your majesty." I replied in an equally sassy tone. "In all seriousness though, I wouldn't have punched the guys and beat his friends black and blue in the first place anyway." Frowning, I elaborate my reason. "If I did that, Hiratsuka-sensei will give me a lot of shit. And by shit I mean extra work… and I don't any right now."

Yukinoshita hums, as if thinking about something. "But really, what sparked that senpai to confront you in such a foolish manner anyway? Bullying? Your threatening looks-"

"Oi."

"-or is it your growing tendency to cause trouble without even attempting to do so?" her eyes gleam in stoic mischief.

I snorted. "Hah, the last one's most likely it." I took my attention off my work, directing it to my club mates. "But, seriously, you didn't know about it?" I asked Yui, "Yui, you knew about it, right?"

She nods, slowly. "Yeah… I was one of the first few students who saw the video…"

This only draws out more confusion from Yukinoshita. "Video? What are the two of you talking about, if I may ask?"

Yui gives me an uncomfortable look. But, I shrugged. "Show her, Yui."

With slight hesitation, Yui busies herself with her phone, probably opening the school's webpage, and then she hands her phone over to Yukinoshita. The volume's not loud, but I can confirm that the video is playing. Yukinoshita's eyes are fixed to the video, paying careful attention as if she's analyzing a well written and detailed essay.

The video ends and as soon as it ends, Yukinoshita sighs.

"Just from this…? Don't they know that it's very childish and low to spread other people's conversation, and don't get me started at how rude it is for them to record this and then posting it on an open medium like the internet."

"It's actually posted at Youtube first then someone from our school posted in on the school's webpage." I told her.

Yukinoshita sighs again, this time double the disappointment. "This is why people are so…" she leaves it hanging.

I chuckled, leaning back on my chair. "Yes, 'people'. To accommodate for their lack of social prowess, some people will have to result to underhanded method such as this. They use other people's misfortune to rise high above the social hierarchy, exploiting all the positive attention for themselves while leaving those people who they have stepped upon ruined for the rest of their life." I shook my head, my sigh identical to Yukinoshita's own. "People…"

Yui, being the middleman in our group, tries to rescue us from sinking into disappointment of society by bringing up another topic. "Maa, maa, some people can be noisy but, like, what… happened with that girl… anyway, Maki?" her voice gets considerably smaller.

Ah, she wanted to ask me this earlier during homeroom too, but I told her that I didn't feel like talking about it. Now that she's said it here, it also prompts Yukinoshita to be curious over this private matter.

But it's not private anymore, now that almost everyone in school knows about it.

And… I guess it won't hurt to tell them a little bit about it.

I let my smile drop, but I wasn't frowning.

"Well… it's complicated. That girl is my ex-" I ignored the flinch coming from both Yui and Yukinoshita. "-girlfriend and, long story short, she wants to 'restart' our relationship." I paused. "I won't go into details about why or how we broke up, but let's just that I prefer if we remain as acquaintances."

My two female club mates aren't able to say anything at first, but Yukinoshita speaks out eventually.

"…I see." She wets her drying lips with a small lick, her little pink tongue poking out a little bit. "But to the point where she cried? What a horrible man you are, Uzumaki-kun." While saying that, she gives me a teasing smirk.

I sighed, slumping down into the table. "You'll know it if you're in my position, Yukinoshita." I said. "It's not that easy, for me at least, to get together again due to the circumstances of our break up." I gave her a look, raising my head. "I won't tell you guys anything about it, so don't bother."

"But… Maki… did you think about what she meant by 'restarting' your relationship with her?"

I slowly raised my head, this time, I'm looking at Yui. "Of course. She wants to get back together."

But Yui shakes her head, as if she's denied my answer. "No. I don't think that's the case. You see, Maki, if she was looking to get back together with you, then I'm sure that she'd understand your rejection. But… I think you rejected her for the wrong reason, Maki."

…

"What… do you mean?" I asked, slowly.

"I think that 'restart' here means restarting an entirely new relationship, not really a… ro-romantic one like the one that you and she had previously… I think." She then shakes her head. "B-But I could be wrong! Of course, since I've no experience when it comes to this field… ehehehe…"

…

"Maki?"

I…

"Maki, are you okay?"

"Leave him be, Yuigahama-san, the idiot is processing the information you've just uploaded into his brain. And currently, he's trying to decipher the codex you've sent."

"Eh? What do you mean, Yukinon?"

"Haaah… sometimes, it's scary being near you, Yuigahama-san."

"Eh?!"

I…

I fucked up.

I fucked up…

I fucked up!

My chair rattles when I stood up quickly, I packed my laptop inside my bag and turned towards my two club mates. "I need to go, I'll see you guys tomorrow." Then, I rushed out the room.

"O-Oi! Maki, where're you going?!"

"Let him be, Yuigahama-san…." Yukinoshita sighs, but a small smile fixes itself upon her face. "Let Uzumaki-kun deal with this on his own."

"Huh… okay, if you say it's fine, Yukinon…"

* * *

Mistakes were made.

And it's all on me.

I didn't know why I immediately assumed that Orimoto wants us to get back together when she said that she wanted to 'restart' our relationship. Why did I suddenly assume it from a romantic point of view? This is a misunderstanding on my part. I misunderstood what Orimoto was trying to say and she cried because of it. If I got rumors about me spread around my school, I can assume that the same is happening with Orimoto.

But, Orimoto is not me, I don't know if she could handle the treatment.

I'm an idiot.

I'm a fucking idiot.

Here I am, sitting at the corner spot of a nameless café, waiting for Orimoto to reply to the message I sent her.

I texted her that I wanted to meet her as soon as possible. I even told her that I was sorry and I really am. This was all a mistake on my part, due to my careless assumption of her intention of wanting to 'restart' a relationship with me. What was I doing assuming things like that? Was I mad? No, I was not mad, irritated, but not mad. I could only wait until Orimoto replies and arrive, but I shouldn't count on that.

I mean, what kind of girl would want to meet the guy who made them cry a few days back, anyway?

I hugged my head, exhaling nervousness in the form of a sigh. Why the hell did I assume such things anyway? I've hurt her, I've made her cry and, what's worse, it's all on fucking Youtube thanks to some fucking asshole who doesn't know jack shit about minding his own business.

I plan to apologize properly, no, I _am_ going to apologize.

She may not forgive me, but I don't care, I still have to apologize.

"…Uzumaki…?"

My head snapped upwards, eyes wide as I stared at the person who uttered my name.

Blue uniform, brown hair, hazel eyes…

Orimoto.

I sucked in air.

"O-Orimoto, I…"

"Wait!" she raises her hand, and I flinched. She gives me a smile. "Let me… sit down first."

I could only nod dumbly. "S-Sure." I did not speak, hell, I couldn't. I could only watch as she takes her time to browse the menu and call the waitress over.

"I'll have coffee. Black."

"Anything else, miss?"

"Ah, nothing else, just that."

"Alright."

The waitress leaves and now it's awkward again.

What should I say? I know I should apologize first but there're just so many things that I want to say sorry for that my mouth is frozen solid. And Orimoto she, she's just sitting there, waiting patiently, her eyes brimming with mysterious curiosity. She smiles.

My heart felt as if it had been crushed by Sasuke's Chidori.

"Orimoto." I steeled myself. It's not shame I'm feeling, but regret. "I'm… I'm sorry."

She does not say anything. She just sits there, smiling.

"I… I misunderstood what you were trying to say and I-I came up with a selfish, self-centered conclusion." I said to her in the clearest voice I could muster. "There's no excusing what I did to you." standing up from my seat, I bowed until my forehead's touching the flat surface of the table. "I apologize from the bottom of my heart."

…

…

"…puh…"

Puh?

"PFT! Ahahaha!"

I looked up, still maintaining this position, only to see Orimoto erupting into chorus of jolly laughter. She's not holding back. Her laughter is loud yet pleasing to hear, she's holding her stomach and a tear escapes the corner of her eye. She continues to laugh for a full minute and she's garnering attention. After a few seconds later, her laughter subsides, leaving her in a fit of giggling mess. She wipes the tear that escaped her eye with a finger and she shows me a warm smile.

"So, it was all a misunderstanding on your part?"

Redness streaked across my face. I couldn't help it. "Y-Yeah… it's all mine…"

She laughs again, this time quieter than before. "Ufufufu, you're hilarious, Uzumaki." She says while giggling. "You rejected my request just a day ago, misunderstood it as something else entirely and now you're here apologizing to me about it."

She leans forward, flicking my nose with her finger.

Ow.

Resting her chin on her palm, she uses her elbow as support.

"Hilarious, Uzuzu."

…I might as well be a tomato right now with how red my face is.

"And you're all red too, aww, how cute."

…

The two of us are now silent. Orimoto is not saying anything and I couldn't start a conversation right now even if my own life depends on it. I'm just too embarrassed. Not ashamed though, embarrassed. I had just committed the biggest misunderstanding ever, how can I not be embarrassed?

I hear Orimoto giggling again, but this time, she brings up conversation. "You know… I was really sad when you said no."

…

"I thought that we're not going to talk anymore and stuff… even if I did visit you before."

…

"When you said no, I was also afraid. You raised your voice at me, something that surprised me too, since you're not really the type to get easily angered."

I can only listen.

"When I was crying there, alone, everyone was looking at me and they even recorded it. I got outta there, embarrassed."

…

"But… I understand why you left the way you did." she says. "If I think about it, I did come up as someone who wants to get back together after her break up…"

…

"…but that's not entirely, wrong, Naruto."

I looked at her.

And she still has that smile on her face.

"I want us to go back to how things were before. I want to hang out with you again, talk to you, laugh with you, play games with you and all that." her smile turns hollow, but it retains its beauty. "It's okay if we're not a couple… heck… were we even one in the first place? Ahahaha…"

Yeah… were we even one? Was it love that I had for Orimoto?

"You know, Uzuzu, I have regrets."

We all do. Mine happened years ago.

"And… telling you about those things on the school's roof that time is my biggest regret, until now." She pauses. "I… I was too weak to deal with the rumors and gossip that'll fly around if the school finds out I'm dating you. I used my friends, last year of middle school and everything else as a reason to break up with you."

Orimoto… knowing that she wouldn't be strong enough to deal with the pressure and stress of being talked about and rumored, she broke up with me in order to prevent those things from happening to her. It's logical. It's basic human desire to avoid pain.

"Then, after graduation, when we did not talk anymore, I realized just what a bad thing I've done." Her voice shakes. "Not only have I lied to you and myself… I ended up hurting myself and, probably, the person I loved too."

…

"Yes." She bites her lower lip. "I love you."

I am left speechless by her confession. Orimoto has told me what she felt about what she did two years ago, she was honest with her explanation and even committed what she thought she did wrong.

I felt sick.

I felt sick at myself.

I was the one who was going to break us up in the first place, but Orimoto – unknowingly – took matters into her own hands, forcing herself to lie in order to make our break up reasonable. I could only imagine how things would have gone if I was the one who initiated the break up.

The answer is obvious: I'd only hurt her.

I doubt that I'll be hurt if I was the one who initiated the break up, because I am the one who come up with the idea of breaking up. I will not be in any position to feel hurt nor regret after that. But Orimoto was the one who had to fire the shot. She is the one who ends up regretting the whole thing while I'm here sipping a cup of hot chocolate.

I sat back down, my legs giving up on me.

"…Orimoto, I-" I tried to speak.

"It's okay." She quickly says, almost too afraid to hear my answer. "You don't have to give me an answer. And if you're still bummed up about the misunderstanding, it's okay too, I forgive you. I'm fine now."

…I don't deserve that.

"Everyone makes mistake and yours is no difference."

I don't deserve it.

She smiles at me.

"Walk me home, Uzuzu?"

And I don't deserve an inch of it.

But I walked her home regardless. We walked together, side by side, in total silence. As the sun descends into the ocean to let night rule over the sky, the atmosphere is now filled with nighttime activities. The sound of shoes hitting pavements, tires screeching and the overall symphony of this not-so-quiet residential district make for a good company in our quiet walk. I did not have my bike with me, since I ran all the way from school to the café where we talked in earlier.

Throughout the entire journey, both Orimoto and I did not talk. We just walked, side by side, in silence. The grey cloud looms over us like the closing of a casket lid, ready to bring down water from the skies. There is no thunder or any hint of lightning. It's yet to rain, but I wouldn't count on it. Our distance, while not far, is not so close either. Me and her, ten inches apart each other. Undoubtedly, I've committed a very big mistake and undoubtedly, I should pay for what I've done.

But Orimoto forgives me. And I should feel glad, right? No. I shouldn't feel glad, in fact, I should feel horrible. I am horrible, now, in fact.

The circumstances of our break up might have been… complicated but there's no denying that it has hurt us too. Yes, even me, in some way. Right now as I walk by her side, I can't help but think,

' _Was it really love?'_

Was it really something as genuine as love that I had with Orimoto? Thinking back, I did not show the signs of someone who has fallen in love. Me going out with her was just like… two close friends hanging out with each other. We'd laugh, we'd talk, we'd walk… not really different from your normal friendship levels of activities. Then… why did it feel different? I enjoyed those times with Orimoto, I'm not going to lie. She is a fun person to talk with, her personality is great and she doesn't mind talking and spending time with a person that had the kind of reputation that I did.

But just because of the things I mentioned above, it's not enough to guarantee that it's love, right?

I don't know. And I don't care. I'm fine with the way things are between me and Orimoto now and it looks like she's fi-

"You know what, Uzuzu, it's not fine after all!"

Tears.

Standing at the edge of the curb, Orimoto has gone steps ahead of me without me noticing her. She looks back at me, tears freely flowing from her eyes. Her outburst goes unnoticed by the people that walk past us, the sole attention she receive belongs to me. Her form quivering, eyes brimming with tears and a complicated expression on her face…

Looking at her making that kind of face, I couldn't take it.

I rushed forward and embraced her.

But my words contradict what I was doing.

"I'm sorry. I can't."

I felt her flinch under my embrace, but she doesn't make a muscle's worth of an effort to push me away. Instead, she lets loose right in my arms. Her sorrowful wails muted by the fabric of my uniform. I did not know what to do, so I held her tighter.

But I heard her speak with a sob,

"Why?"

Why?

"I don't… I…" I found my words again. "I never loved you."

She wails harder, and I hugged her harder in response.

"It was not love, but mutual acceptance." I told her. "I went accepted you because you were an amazing person, but not out of love."

Then I leaned closer to her, just enough to reach her ear.

"But that doesn't mean that I hate you."

She pulls back, revealing to me her red and tear stained face.

Smiling, I gazed into her eyes. "You're an amazing person. Thanks to you, my middle school days were not all terrible and lonely. You'd make an excellent friend."

She can only stare while exhaling heavily, crying would do that to anyone. Then, a small, but genuine nonetheless, smile forms. She laughs, but not as humorous or joyous as her usual ones. She buried her face into my shirt again, this time nuzzling her muzzle a few times before pulling back, looking downwards.

"You're a cruel man, Uzuzu."

Déjà vu.

"So…" she sniffs. "I just got friendzoned?"

"Hmm…" I made a thinking look. "I think 'best friendzoned' would be the correct term he-owowowowow…" don't pull on my cheeks, woman. I gave her a playful glare, one that's not serious in nature. "Whats' dat for?"

"I'm angry."

She tells me.

"I'm sad too."

She tells me again.

"But most of all… I'm relieved."

Only Orimoto can make smiling look both happy and sad.

"My feelings won't change, though. I'd still love you, whether you like it or not."

Now, now, don't be unreasonable…

Orimoto wistfully smiles. "So… you don't mind if I pop in and out of your life every now and then from now on, do you?"

I made a thinking look, before giving her my answer while grinning. "As long as you don't touch the ramen, we're cool."

Orimoto Kaori throws her head as she explodes into a chorus of laughter.

"You're hilarious Uzuzu!"

I shared her smile.

Somehow… I managed to solve my mistake. I walked her home, which is in the residential district not too far from the café that we sat in earlier, but before we reached her house, she stops. She says that this is far enough and I nodded. She waves me goodbye and I returned it with a wave of my own. I saw her form disappearing around the corner that she needs to take in order to reach her house, my gaze lingered there for more than a few seconds even after she's disappeared completely.

I smiled, placed my hands in my pockets and turned away.

I learned something today.

I learned that it wasn't love after all.

At least not on my part it wasn't.

As I walked, I took out my phone, I dialed a number;

"Komachi? This is Onii-chan… hey, do you mind if I pick you up? Yeah, I'll treat you to some food. Where? Hm… let's see… ah, how about ramen?"

* * *

 **1: I heard from somewhere that if you enter a public bath with tattoo on your body, you'll get weird looks from others inside because only yakuza or gang members have tattoo. I don't know, you can correct me on this.**

 **2: Hey look, it's me making a poor attempt at referencing Skyrim!**

 **3: That one annoying cartoon from Nickelodeon where a little Hispanic girl keeps on asking you to ask the map for directions? Yeah, Dora the Explorer. God my childhood was bad…**

 **Wow, it took shorter than what I had originally planned. Anyway, like it, love it, hate it, I could only care less right now. Now, I'm gonna sleep. Took me eight hours to write this chapter…**

 **Goodnight/morning.**


	12. Day of Naruto

**The winds of change breezed past me while I was thinking and planning this chapter. So, here's chapter twelve and I hope that you'll enjoy it.**

* * *

The basic form of Taijutsu that they taught us in the academy was, as the name suggests, basic. As an academy student, not an enlisted member of the ninja ranks, you're expected to know how to prepare yourself in case of attacks. And the basic Taijutsu form that they taught you in the academy covers this. You're only some nine or ten year old brat, so the things you'll learn won't be something serious yet; it's not like you're going to beat up some motherfuckers.

There're exceptions, of course.

coughItachicough.

Not only teaching you how to win a fight, they'll also teach you how to maintain the defense and not get hurt when your opponents attack you. It might seem ridiculous, outrageous even, to let children around the age of nine to twelve learn self-defense in case of potential enemy attacks. But we're ninjas, our lives consist of ridiculous and outrageous events, otherwise it'll be dull and the only thing you'll be doing is guard duty on the main gates.

Though each Hidden Villages have different ways of training their cadets, there are two standards that almost all Hidden Villages seem to follow.

The first one: cadets should be able to at least defend themselves. This is as obvious as it could get but it wasn't easy teaching a bunch of brats the proper way to fight. Let me tell you, as an infamous trouble maker thinking back on how his childhood had been, I can perfectly assure you that teaching kids the proper way to defend themselves, much less fight, is hard. As a kid, boys especially, you're too excited at the thought of learning kick ass fighting moves from your instructor. I'm not ashamed of admitting that I was susceptible to this tendency. In fact, we were all like that, me and my friends. Yeah, even that tomato eating asshole Sasuke too. But back to the point… teaching kids the proper way to fight requires a lot of effort and patience.

Triple when it comes to patience. Man… Iruka-sensei… you can't imagine just how much I respect you now…

Now this does not mean that everyone's uncontrollable or completely hopeless. It's just that kids, like kids now, come with different backgrounds. You have the privileged sonovabochis like Sasuke and the rest of the clan heirs/esses. They should have at least basic discipline when it comes to learning ninja related stuffs. But when it comes to clanless orphans like me, discipline is just one of the many things we lacked. However, it's not completely hopeless. Children are easily motivated, I can testify for that, and all it takes is the correct combination of buttons to make them motivated.

And when you managed to do that, you're set for the rest of the semester!

The second standard: to corporate both offense and defense into one smooth fighting style. Again, another standard that everyone could agree with. Obviously, when learning something like martial arts, you'd obviously want to defend yourself from incoming offense. This is agreeable in all sorts of fighting style, even ones that exist today. And since you're training to be a ninja, a defender of your village, you're expected to know a lot of stuff when it comes to ass kicking. Just like military personnel nowadays, you're expected to fight for your country. This is logic, pure and simple.

The style that Konoha came up with for their academy cadets is the only Taijutsu style that the village gives to you. When you move up the ranks to be a Genin, Chunin or Jonin, hell even ANBU or whatever, you're not going to be given a new style for you to learn from. There's no need to uniform fighting styles, that'll make our shinobis predictable and susceptible to counter attacks. Instead, they encourage you to develop a style of your own. But of course, it's amazing how influential people could be. Take Gai-sensei, Rock Lee's instructor, his style, the Iron Fist style, has become a huge inspiration for Taijutsu specialist back in Konoha. And those who came from prestigious clans like those of the Uchiha clan were also taught their clan's original Taijutsu style, so, it's not strange if you see familiar styles here and there.

So, in conclusion, I officially graduated from the academy of ass kicking and is more than certified to kick ass when the situation calls for it.

But now, I have to compromise with going to the gym.

I ignored the drilling stares that the others are sending my way. I mean, I can't blame them. The sight of a tattooed, blonde, gaijin working out in a local gym is probably not something that they'd often see. I'm not ignoring them out of pure ignorance, it just so happen I was occupied with my workout and a book. I'm sitting on one of the workout benches, a five kilogram (around eleven pounds) dumbbell on my right arm while my left's busy holding up the book I'm currently reading.

How to Win Friends and Influence People, a self-help book written by Dale Carnegie for people who are in need of social company. At least that's my take on it… it's a pretty neat book, this one, while I may disagree with seventy percent of what's written here, there's no denying the truth that's written in it. This book tells you that in order to be liked by the people around you, you must be 'nice' and 'kind' to the people around you first. It's the next obvious thing since hot fire. Overall, this book is turning out to be an interesting read and I'm glad I decided to get a copy on my way home last night.

It's been two days after my last encounter with Orimoto. She hasn't sent me any messages or anything of the sort, but I think that it's for the best if we keep quiet to each other for a while. With a huff, I lifted the dumbbell after I reached a hundred – I've been counting mentally – and I switched it over to my left hand and now, I'm holding the book with my right arm. I can feel my sweat trickling down my back and since I'm not wearing a shirt, it's dropping to the bench I'm sitting on.

I don't really go to the gym, it's unnecessary and pricey. They charge you for a certain period of time of membership opportunity in exchange for facilities that I can easily replicate outside of a gym. Weight lifting? Try doing chin ups, after all, the only weight you need to pull in life is yourself. Treadmill? Take a freaking jog outside, enjoy the fresh air! Don't confine yourself inside a closed room with… eleven other guys sweating around you. So, under any normal circumstances, I wouldn't be here, but I am here right now.

So, why?

On my mail box earlier this morning, I got a free trial coupon for this particular gym since it's just recently opened. I thought, 'it's free, it's nearby and I don't have to get back here again' and why not? I got nothing to lose. So I came here in the end and here I am now. I spent a few minutes to finish up my count.

One hundred.

I placed the dumbbell down on the wooden tiled floor before snapping my book shut. I unzipped my pack so that I could place my book inside. I also took out a fresh grey colored t-shirt as well as a water bottle. I dumped the sweaty, used orange shirt inside the bag. Putting on the fresh shirt, I chugged down the energy drink inside my water bottle, leaving not a single drop left.

"A-Ano… excuse me…"

Looking up, three girls dressed in gym wear are standing in one line side by side. I stood up to talk to them properly. The one in the middle, a lady with tied up black hair, is the one who spoke earlier.

"Yes? May I help you?" I asked them.

The girl in the middle fidgets for some more, but her two friends are whispering some words to her that I didn't bother picking up. They finally give her a push, both literally and figuratively. "Y-You are Jiraiya-sensei right? Author of the Icha Icha series?"

I mentally cringed. Crap. I know where this is going. Sighing, I shrugged, but smile nonetheless. "What if I am?"

She along with her friends beam forward, an expression of pure glee etched into their faces. "Please, sign our bra!"

Huh?

* * *

"Thank you so much sensei~!"

I waved goodbye at the three women, they choose the exact same time to leave the gym as I do, and I looked at my right with narrowed eyes.

"Ero-sennin… hope you're proud wherever you are right now…"

That old pervert better be, after all, his legacy lives on in the hearts of both men and women in this age. Well, their book shelves really, since it's probably where they're keeping the books.

Now outside, I shrugged before proceeding along with my business. I got nothing planned out today, so I guess I'll take a walk around town. The gym's located outside the residential district, but it's not that far. I walked here, by the way, so I didn't have my bike with me for me to ride on. But I like walking and besides, you can never skip leg day.

 **#legdaybestday**

The nice thing about Japan is that everything's built to fulfill the needs of their citizens. My water bottle's empty, so to remedy that, I got myself a cold bottle of Pocari Sweat from the many vending machines that the Japanese unquestioningly love. Inserting the accurate amount of money into the machine, I pressed the number of the drink I currently fancy. And just like when you're younger and your dad was carrying you, the bottle of drink drops into the compartment. Reaching for it, I finally retrieved it.

"Aaaah…" I can already feel all the nutrients and electrolytes getting replaced already. After having enough, I stored the bottle inside my bag.

My thirst has been quenched… but the same cannot be said for my hunger. I left for the gym in the morning, after I found the voucher in my mail box, and it's now around noon or so but I have yet to eat any breakfast. As in, real breakfast meals.

FYI, instant ramen does not count as a proper breakfast meal.

Two cups of them, however, do. But I only had one.

"Alright, time to get me some grub…" I began to walk the street in search of a place to eat. Of course, it has to be ramen, no surprise there. But I don't feel like crashing into the place I always visit, I wanna try something new. Hmm… oh well, I guess I'll just have to search around.

What should I get, I wonder… normally, I'd choose pork for the base of my ramen… but chicken doesn't sound so bad… maybe miso? Soyu? Hmm… since I usually go for richer broths like tonkotsu and miso, the noodles have to be thin so that they'll complement flavor. I'm not picky about my toppings, but I could go for several slices of pork belly… then, I guess I'll go with a tonkotsu broth based chashumen. Oh, and a soy and sake brined soft boiled egg! **(1)**

I haven't even decided on a place but I'm already smiling, that's how you'll know how hungry I am.

"Eh, Uzumaki?"

Oh ya?

"Hiratsuka… sensei?"

Oh wow.

Wow…

"What're you staring for, Uzumaki? Is it that strange to see me outside of school?" I can sense the danger in her tone, but I assure you, sensei, you're the only who's thinking negatively here.

I shook my head. "No, nothing strange about that, it's just that… why are you dressed like that though?" I asked her, curious. "You're all dolled up and stuff…"

Hiratsuka-sensei abandons what she usually wears at school. I'm not seeing the white lab coat, collared shirt and pair of slacks that she normally wear at school and it's not like the teachers are asked to wear uniforms like us students, so seeing her dressed like a model in front of me is definitely a first. She wears a black party dress that emphasizes the elegant and mature contours of her body and some sort of a fur neck accessory is wrapped around her neck. She loosened it though, so I could see her nape due to our difference in height. She's not wearing her work shoes, but a pair of high heels instead.

Her heels make 'tik tok' sounds as she walks to approach me. It looks like she's unaware of the attention she's raking in.

"Oh, this?" she gestures to herself. "Yeah… it's a… family matter." She says with uncertainty in her voice. But I knew better.

"Let me guess, someone from your family got married?"

The femme fatale in front of me flinches as she makes a very remorseful expression. Her shoulder sag and a frown forms on her face, but it does nothing to blemish her beauty. She lets out a long sigh.

"Yeah… you're right." My off duty teacher reaches into her bag. Oh, Charles and Keith? Just how much are they paying school teachers nowadays; then again, I'm the one with the best-selling book here, so I guess I'll hold that question off for later. She pulls out a box of cigar and a lighter, she then proceeds to light the cigar and then smoking it.

What she's doing right now may be contradicting her current appearance by most people.

But to me, she looks twice as hot.

Hiratsuka Shizuka, advisor of the Service Club. Huh, looks like you're more than just lab coats and a mean right.

"It was my cousin's." she says after exhaling a cloud of smoke. "I got nothing else to do over there so I left earlier."

I raised an eyebrow. "A marriage reception this early in the day?" I know some people are eager to get hitched…

She waves my statement. "No, it's not the reception yet. They're still taking the pre-marriage photos and my cousin wanted me there for some shots." She sighs. "I forgot to bring a change of clothes so now I'm stuck to wearing this as I search for grub…"

"You're looking for food too?"

She nods, her cigar poking from the corner of her mouth. "Yeah, I'm gonna go and grab a bowl of ramen. There's a good place nearby." She looks at me, smiling. "Wanna come?"

I fell to my knees.

"U-Uzumaki?"

I grabbed her hands, looked her in the eyes and said, "Please be my wife."

She blinks at me for several times, before laughing. She pushes my hands away from hers, shaking her head. "Hahahahaha! Oi, oi… what are you saying early in the morning and get up, you're embarrassing me here." oh, people are looking, no surprise there… "And was that supposed to be a joke, huh?"

I shook my head. "No, that's no joke." I said. "I mean, I was about, thirty percent serious before." I heard things like 'are they shooting a movie?' and 'who're they, actors?' from the people around us and with the way Hiratsuka-sensei's dressed, I can't blame them for mistaking her as an actress or model.

I saw red streaks across her face.

"O-Oh." She coughs, letting the redness fade. "W-Well, anyway, don't do that kind of stuff if you're not a hundred percent serious. Marriage is something that you should take seriously and… urgh… gah!" oh, she snaps. Without dropping her cigar, she spins on her heels – which is an impressive feat in itself considering the kind of shoes she's wearing – and says, "Anyway, do you wanna come or not?

Smiling, I joined her on a walk. "Sure!" hey, I'm about to have lunch with a beautiful woman who also happens to fancy ramen, how can I not join her? And can this morning get any better?

As I walk, I can't deny or ignore the attention Hiratsuka-sensei is receiving. I don't know if she's ignoring them on purpose or she's completely blind to it all, but one thing's for sure, we're a very odd pair in the eyes of other pedestrians. You have Hiratsuka-sensei, a total babe dressed in clothing that enhances her beauty levels to the max. Then you have me, the blonde, blue eyed gaijin with the orange shirt, shorts, pack and whiskers. I can only imagine their reaction if the found out that she's actually my teacher…

"By the way, sensei, was it really okay to leave? I got a feeling that having 'nothing else to do' isn't exactly the reason why you left the place…" I suddenly asked her, since I couldn't bear walking in total silence.

Hiratsuka-sensei chuckles upon hearing my question. "Sharp as ever, aren't you, Uzumaki? But you're right, that's not the only reason why I ditched early." She says, her tone getting considerably lower by each word. "Aside from not serving ramen for lunch over there," okay, she's a keeper, "my other relatives who are present kept on pestering me about getting hitched too… it's bearable for the first few talks, but I don't think I can endure another second over there."

Oh. Well, if she's saying like that then I guess I can see why she ditched the event. Hiratsuka-sensei's struggle is something that I'm not familiar with. Where I abstain or refrain myself from getting into a serious relationship with women, she's struggling to find her significant other to a point where she's contemplating over it as if it's some sort of terminal illness. Can't say I pity her, because I know she doesn't like pity, especially from a student like me.

But, I couldn't help but tell her what I honestly feel about her situation.

"Well, if you ask me, I don't quite get why guys aren't flocking over you to be honest…" scratching the back of my head, I wiped a trickle of sweat that's dripping down my neck, rubbing it off my skin. "I mean, you're beautiful, stylish, mature, good at giving advice, have a stable income and all that."

I'm just being honest here. "I'm boggled, really. Aside from your violent tendencies from time to time, you're really someone nice to talk to. When you're around, it's as if things are in control." I mean, she is a teacher after all. Iruka-sensei also had that kind of effect on me back then, even if I wasn't his student anymore.

I smiled at her, hoping that it'll give her reassurance regardless of how small it is. "So, don't give up, Hiratsuka-sensei."

I couldn't really tell the kind of face she's making, since she's turned her face away from me. But I can see hints of red spreading all the way down her neck and to her ears. Seeing her reaction like that made me blush too. I flailed my arms in the air, I don't wanna make her more upset about the situation!

"A-Ah sorry, it's just that, that's how I really feel about your situation… you shouldn't read too much into it…"

Damn, she's gonna punch me isn't she?

But no punch, instead, she laughs. A charming one, I might say.

"Puh… uhahahahahahahaha! You… you really!" she's talking while laughing, gasping for air. I walked next to her, blinking in confusion. I can only hear the sound of her hearty laughter. Finally, her laughing dies down. Her cigarette's almost finished, but she's still keeping it between her lips.

Are her lips always that red, by the way? Nah, probably cosmetics.

"You know, it'd be waaaay better if you're more open like this to your classmates." She says to me in a reprimanding tone. Gah, teacher mode online! "It'd be nice to see you more active and energetic in class."

I crossed my arm, a frown forming on my face. "But I talk to people. Yui and even that cold bitch Yukinoshita." I said, nonchalantly. "And I participate in club activities every day, how am I not energetic?"

Sensei chuckled, probably about the bitch comment about Yukinoshita. "Don't let her hear you call her that, she doesn't take people who call her names kindly."

"Yeah, I kind'a like, know already? Why do you think we're almost trading burns whenever we talk?"

"Still, still, that's no way to talk about someone who's not even here." she reprimands me again, this time, with a more general register.

Meh, fine enough.

"But anyway, what I meant is that it'd be better to see you talk to the rest of your classmates at school, not just Yui. And Yukinoshita's not your classmate, she's your club president." Sensei tells me. "Ah, we're going this way, by the way."

We take a sharp left, entering this alley. It's not dirty or anything, in fact, it's meant to be passed through. I saw signs, lockers, boxes… looks like Hiratsuka-sensei's taking me to a low key ramen restaurant.

I resumed the conversation. "And, that's enough for me. I don't see why I have to waste my time talking to, like, twenty other kids in class whose opinions about me are questionable. It's not like I'm hurting anyone."

"There you go again with your cynic reasoning…" sensei lets out a disappointed sigh. "I thought you've changed by now."

"It takes a very long time to change someone, sensei." I told her.

She looks at me, and we trade looks.

But it seems that we've arrived at our destination. Sighing, Hiratsuka-sensei walks past me and sits down on one of the stools available. She picks a spot directly in front of the cooks, this woman knows what she's doing. But, again, the moment she walks into the room; all eyes are on her. Now I'm not discriminating, because my club advisor's a ramen geek herself, but you'd find more men in ramen joints like this one; and that's exactly the case here. The other customers here are either office men who are on lunch break from work, college students who are taking a quick bite before attending morning lectures and normal adult men who… apparently like ramen as much as I do.

I took the empty spot next to her. At this point, I'm sure that Hiratsuka-sensei's just ignoring them.

The cook asks us what we want and how do we want it.

"Tonkotsu ramen, make the broth rich and the noodle soft." Oho? Looks like she knows what she's doing.

I went along with my initial choice. "Tonkotsu chasumen, noodles soft and with extra pork belly slices." Satisfied with my order, I gave a small nod.

We waited as the cook prepares our order, but since this is a ramen joint and they have everything prepared beforehand, it took no longer than two minutes until our orders are ready. The steaming bowl of God's grace that is ramen descends upon us, laid on the wooden bar table with the surface of its rich broth glistening in pork fat. In my case – or should I say bowl – there are five perfectly sized pork belly cutlet stacked neatly halfway on top of each other, thinly sliced negi that will enhances the flavor of the ramen. A thin sheet of nori, or seaweed, is dipped halfway into the broth. I could eat it like that in itself, but I'll save it for later.

Snapping my chopsticks, I did not hesitate to dig into my meal.

Yep, it's delish.

The entire thing melts into my mouth and I relinquish my senses to the taste buds on my tongue. We eat our meal in relative silence, the only sound we're making is the slurping of noodles and soup.

When Hiratsuka-sensei places her chopsticks down to pause her eating, she speaks to me. "So what about you? What were you doing this time of the day?" she asks me.

"Me? And why does sound like you're surprised about the idea of me being outside?"

Hiratsuka-sensei lets out a small laugh. "You can't blame me. I've heard complaints from several of your teachers that you would often work on your manuscript in the middle of the class." She gives me a look before I could defend myself. "And just because you finished whatever work the teacher gave you, it doesn't mean that you could do other things in class. If you'd actively participate and actually pay attention in class, you might just become an honored student for this batch's second year."

I scoffed. "I see no need in doing half of the things you just said. Sure, maybe I was wrong in doing my work during class, but you can't blame me for finding the other teachers boring."

"Oh, boring?" she snorts. "Am I boring in my lectures too?"

"Not always." I shrugged.

"Hehehe. Honest guy aren't you?"

"I only lie when I feel like it." I said. "And you showed me this ramen joint, so answering your question honestly is the least I could do for you."

She laughs again. I don't get why she's still single… are men really that stupid?

"Actually, now that you showed me a delicious store like this, I think that the least I could do for you is to return the favor myself." I said to her.

"Oh, you know a place to eat that I don't?"

"Hm. You can say that." the last time I checked, my kitchen and dining room's not known to be a formal ramen restaurant.

Besides, now that I've tasted and finished this delicious ramen, I'm thinking of improving my original ramen recipe. As I thought, you gotta cook the broth longer than just a day… but that'll do some damage to my gas bills though, ugh. Well, anything is fine if I'm doing it for a fellow ramen lover.

It's not bad eating ramen with someone else. In fact, I think that it's better that way.

I looked at my empty bowl and I raised it.

"Hey, a refill please!" **(2)**

* * *

Despite the occasional stunts I pulled in school, I'm not that well known. If you go to the halls, talk to a random guy or girl and say 'hey, you know Uzumaki Naruto', there's a very high chance of them saying 'who the eff's Uzumaki Naruto' or something along those lines. I didn't talk to that many people, the ones I have conversations or am comfortable to talk with are my club mates, Hiratsuka-sensei, Saika, some guys from the track and field club, some more guys from the soccer club and the coach. Even so, I don't really talk much with the last three people.

But I suppose I have been getting some 'recognition' from my fellow peers, and the faculty members too apparently, for the public display of humiliation that I did to that one senpai a few days back… but still, it's kind of surprising for me when someone I don't know talk to me at school.

Especially if she's as insignificant as a side character.

"Eh… Uzumaki…san?"

Picking up my head from my desk, I stifled a huge yawn, rubbed my eyes and scratched my thighs. Someone's calling me. Hm? Who are you? "Yes?" now that I'm paying attention to her, I recognized her to be the girl that sits a few sits in front of Ito, another guy who doesn't really know me. "May I help you?"

"Uh… someone is looking for you, outside." She gestures to the door.

I blinked. Someone's looking for me? Why didn't they just come in and what for? I'm noticing that Yui's giving me a long, hard look. Is it that strange for me to talk to someone else in my class…? Meh, whatever. Standing up, I nodded my thanks to the nameless girl who woke me up earlier. I walked outside to meet said person and I didn't have to wait.

"A-Ano… are you Uzumaki Naruto-san from the Service Club?"

The Service Club? Oh, she's asking for a request… hm… how should I handle this? While there's nothing wrong with requesting before club starts, I don't think that I should be handling this on my own. I'll just listen to the request for now. By the way, my soon-to-be client is a girl, wearing the school's uniform – duh – and has short black hair fashioned in a bob cut. She looks ordinary. Pardon me if I sound rude, but that's the only word that I could use to describe her overall looks. I did a split second observation about the girl, and I noticed something.

Her collar is not fixed properly, giving me the opportunity to catch a glimpse of something that I shouldn't see in the first place.

But I replied, albeit late, "Yes, I am Uzumaki Naruto from the Service Club. Is there anything that I can help you with?" don't look at me with a look that's saying 'holy shit, this asshole can be polite too'! If I act like a jerk in front of her, Yukinoshita will give me so much shit later on and I don't feel like eating shit, ever.

But my earlier thought still stands, I should not handle this alone if it's something that requires Yukinoshita's attention too.

She fidgets on her spot, suddenly finding the floor more attractive than me. "U-Uhm… is it alright if we discuss about this while we eat?" she laughs wryly. "I'm hungry, you see…"

I shrugged. "Sure, just let me go get some hot water first from the cafeteria before we talk."

"Hot water, are yo-uwaaah you're going to make instant ramen at school?"

I looked at her with a scrutinizing look. "And what's wrong with that? Am I violating the school's rule by eating instant ramen at school?" crap, my asshole tendency is slipping out!

"N-No, it's just that, this is my first time seeing someone actually bringing instant ramen to school…" is that awe I hear in her voice? Either way, it seems that it is her first time seeing someone bringing instant ramen to school, I can tell that much from her voice.

I sighed. "Well, anyway, where do you want to talk?"

"Uh… hm… the school's roof?"

I raised an eyebrow, but then I shrugged. If she likes eating in the roof, then let her. "Sure, wait for me there, I won't take long."

"U-Un."

We separate. She goes up to the roof while I make a quick trip to the cafeteria. I have my cup of instant ramen with me and I can get hot water from the dispenser inside the kitchen. I always do this, but they people in charge of the mess hall are still giving me weird looks. Is it that weird to bring and eat instant ramen in an educational foundation in Japan?!

Anyway, after getting what I wanted, I made my way to the roof. I walk through the halls with my cup ramen closed, the hot water's still cooking the ramen and it's also letting out the sweet, sweet fragrance of MSG and seasoning to the air. Of course, just like any other good smelling fragrance or smell, it diffuses quickly.

"Hey, do you smell that?"

"Yeah… is it ramen?"

"Someone's eating instant ramen at school?"

"Haha, what's that, that's so weird!"

Oi, that last person, I'll bust your legs if I ever know who you are.

…but really, is it that weird to eat instant ramen at school?

Anyway, I made my journey to the roof. Opening the roof access door with one hand, I was greeted by an empty roof.

Hm? Is she not here yet?

"Ah, Uzumaki-san, you're here already?"

I looked towards my right and I saw my client sitting on the roof with her lunchbox prepared. I walked towards her, holding my ramen cup ever so carefully.

Whoa, a stacked lunchbox? Is she a rich person or something? **(3)**

She must have noticed me eyeing her lunchbox… or lunchboxes in this case. "Ah, would you like to eat with me? I don't mind."

Hm… normally, I'd decline, but those Inarizushi looks good…

Shrugging my shoulders, I sat opposite to her. "Thank you kindly…" now that I think about it, I never learned her name. "Eh… your name? You haven't told me what your name is…"

She's flustered, as if she's made a blunder. "Oh, how rude of me… my name is Asahi Hinata. I'm a third year… hm, Uzumaki-san, what's wrong?"

…

"Uzumaki…san? Are you well?"

…wat?

"Should we relocate somewhere else? Is the wind not good for you?"

Blinking my eyes repeatedly, I finally responded to her call. "N-No, it's fine, sorry, I was just distracted by the…" quick, think of something! "…food! Yeah, your food, they look tasty!"

Nice one Naruto!

"Oh really? Thank you." she gives me a small smile. "And yours too." she giggles.

I reeled black, cradling my cup of now warm ramen. "Hey, hey! Don't judge…"

But really? Hinata? Is this some sort of sick humor of yours, God? What, does God even exist? Oh he's up there alright, and he's laughing his ass off on his throne!

"Anyway," she holds the container that contains the Inarizushi that I was eyeing earlier, "go ahead."

With minor hesitation, I picked up a piece using my chopsticks.

Oh, it's good!

"How is it?" she asks.

"It's good." I barely contained my excitement. "It's sweet and the rice inside is soft."

Giggling, she says, "I'm glad you liked it."

Swallowing the delicious Inarizushi in my mouth, I brought my ramen to a mouth's level. "So… what do you need my help for, Asahi-senpai?" I almost forgot that I'm here for a reason, damn this deliciously good Inarizushi…

She puts down her lunch box momentarily to talk to me. "It's… kind of personal, which is why I don't want to involve Yukinoshita-san and Yuigahama-san into this…" oh, she knows Yui and Yukinoshita? "And… let's just say that my request requires the capable hands of a man."

She giggled while I chuckled.

Then, the giggling dies down, she takes a deep breath,

"I want you to teach some people a lesson."

.

.

.

I began looking around immediately, searching for hidden cameras that might be placed around here.

She notices the reason for my reaction. Waving her hands, she reassures me, saying, "No! No, I'm serious here, Uzumaki-san, I really want you to teach some people a lesson! Really, there're no hidden cameras or whatsoever, Uzumaki-san!"

Still not convinced, I gave her questioning look, strands of noodles hanging from my mouth. "Why?" that's the only intelligent response from me after hearing her request.

She switches her sitting position to seiza, looks like she's trying to show me how sincere she is. "It's my little brother." She begins with a sigh. "You see, my little brother was a good kid. He'd get the best grades in class and is really nice. But apparently, being nice is not a very good thing nowadays."

You can say that again…

"His nice personality made him vulnerable to bad people." She says.

I found the need to interrupt her at that point. "So, your brother's getting bullied?"

She lets out an uncharacteristic scoff all the while shaking her head sideways. "If it were normal bullies I'm talking about, I would have consulted his school and our parents…" the worry doubles in her tone. "But, unfortunately, it isn't normal bullies. I'm talking about legitimately bad people who will be nothing but bad influence to him. You know… the kind of people that you'd normally see on the corner of the streets, squatting, smoking cigars and getting drunk in the middle of the day?"

"You mean like a gopnik?" I asked.

"Worse." Huh, I'm more surprised that she knows what a gopnik is.

"Why? They're asking him for money or something?"

"Not only that… but these are the kinds of people that use drugs and all sorts of illegal substances."

Okay, now that's a game changer.

"I'm worried for my brother." Yeah, no shit. "And… I saw how you handle Onigawa-" huh, so that senpai's name is Onigaha, huh? "-a few days ago and I thought, 'maybe he could help Satoshi'."

"So your brother's name is Satoshi?"

"Yes."

"And how old is he?" I asked.

"He's in his second year of middle school, but he'll be fourteen this month." She tells me.

"Obviously… this is serious." I said, putting down my half-way finished ramen cup. "They're harassing a minor and Japan takes its laws very seriously…" now I know why she wants me to teach these dudes a lesson. "Have you tried talking to Satoshi?"

"Yes, but this is where his attitude becomes a problem." She sighs and I can taste the frustration in her voice. "You see, he's convinced that by giving these people money, he's doing a good thing. I tried talking some sense into him, but he wouldn't listen. He can be pretty stubborn when it comes to doing things like things. You see, he believes that these people need help and by complying to their requests, he thinks that he's helping them."

I facepalmed. "…is your brother, forgive me for saying this, stupid or something?"

She laughs stiffly, her expression mighty sad. Then, I asked again, "What about your parents, do they know that their son is being used like this?"

She shakes her head in negative. "No. If I tell mom and dad, they'll definitely make things worse. If they learn that their nice and kindhearted son has been giving money to street thugs for alcohol and drugs… they'll have a heart attack for sure." I would have laughed at that if the situation isn't serious.

But it is, so, I can't.

"So, please, Uzumaki-san, do something!" she bows like any Japanese person would when they want to ask for favor from someone else.

Taking a moment to drink all of the soup inside my cup, I put it down and then gave her my answer. I nodded. "Sure, why not?"

"Eh? You'll really do it?" her face's inches away from mine, she's closed the distance between us in just a split second. "Really?!"

I was forced to lean back. Whoa, she didn't strike me as the energetic type… "Yeah, really."

She nods repeatedly while smiling. "Great! Thank you very much Uzumaki-san! And I know I asked you to teach them a lesson but…" she laughs awkwardly, scratching the back of her head. "Killing… someone… is just…"

I looked at her, offended. "Do I look like the type of person who'll do something like that."

She hesitates and then she gives me a mixture between a nod and a shake of her head.

"Wow. Thank you, senpai… I feel very appreciated, right now."

"M-Maa, maa! But these guys are bad people, after all and I guess it's okay if you… 'rough' them up a little bit, I guess…?"

Chuckling, I gave her a smirk. "'Rough them up a little bit', what, you've been watching too much crime movies?"

She blushes. Looks like I hit the mark. "I-It's none of your business, Uzumaki-san!"

I just laughed.

* * *

But really… the little brother, this Satoshi kid? Man… what is he, some sort of shounen manga protagonist or something? I swear… I thought a certain orange haired and sword tracing kid is the only one with the kind of 'I-must-help-everyone' complex… looks like I was wrong. **(4)**

Anyway, now that I've accepted her request, I have to fulfill it. On my own. It's a good thing that Asahi-senpai approached only me for this request, I did not want Yukinoshita or Yui to be involved in any of this. It shouldn't be too hard to deal with these street punks. I told Asahi-senpai of my plan and she agreed to it.

I'll be visiting Satoshi-kun's 'friends' and have a nice long chat with them. If our chat comes to shouting, shouting comes to pushing and pushing comes to shoving; that's the time I'll have to get physical and teach them in a language that I know and love the most:

Ass kicking.

After I… have introduced them to the aforementioned language, I'll make the confess, record the whole thing and send it to Asahi-senpai for Satoshi to hear later on. Done.

…

AHA! Like hell it is done!

I'm not going to let people like them sit around and make some other naïve kid buy their booze and crack for them, hell no. Which is why, I intend to go the extra mile by finding out the source of this drug distribution. It shouldn't be too hard considering that the Japanese federal government is very strict when it comes to misuse of drug substances, so this means that their distributor is relatively small enough for me to handle alone. If this was some other place like the States, however, it'll be a lot harder for me to do my task.

Senpai mentioned alcohol and drugs, those two things alone tells me enough of the type of people that I'll be dealing with. Violent junkies high on acid can be troublesome, but not if you're going to beat their ass up. The same goes for drunks. While it is not illegal to drink and get wasted in the streets in Japan, it is illegal, however, to trick minors into giving them money to buy drinks. I'm not particularly sure which law article this violates from, but let's just say that I don't give a damn about the law anymore because it's not exactly justice I'm exacting here.

Oh no, this is me, – as Asahi-senpai has mentioned a few times in school earlier today – teaching a few junkies some lesson.

So here I am, walking the night street of a busy and bustling Chiba, whistling to the tune of that one song by that one guy whose last name is bubble… or something along those lines, **(5)** wearing a pair of tan colored and carbon fiber knuckle plated Oakley gloves. Of course, I remembered not to make the same mistake of wearing my school uniform again when I'm about to do questionable things. And let me tell you, the things that I'm about to do will be questionable… in the court of law. But aside from that, I'm wearing a plain dark brown t-shirt, my favorite pair of khaki pants, a grey cycling mask which is currently not worn around my neck, a pair of matching tan LSA Terrain boots, and I have several loops of FlexiCuffs with me which I tied to my belt.

It's pretty much dark already, as it is already afternoon, and I'm currently a few blocks away from where the trash are at. In fact, I think Satoshi is in the area, because his sister told me that he'd not be home around this hour. I got a picture of the little brother from Asahi-senpai herself earlier via LINE. Won't be hard to spot him… in fact… I think that's him turning around the corner right there.

Short buzz cut, dressed in an undisclosed middle school uniform and carries a plastic bag filled with convenience store bought bento? That's him alright. Alright, for now I'll tail him.

He walks the opposite direction from where the main street is. I tailed him at a safe distance, which is about five meters away. His pace is normal and that's enough assurance that he hasn't noticed me. I don't plan on getting noticed, but I don't plan on being quiet either. It's been a full one minute now and based on the turns, intersections, paths and alleys we've past; I can safely say that he's leading me to the place where these junkies are at.

Satoshi walks into an empty lot, originally meant to be used to build houses, but those that don't sell well won't be managed; making them an excellent place for the homeless or, apparently, street junkies like the one I'm about to meet. I watched as Satoshi's figure disappears into the lot, a cheer erupted. Men. All of them. I walked up to the lot, keeping close to the wall so that I could eavesdrop. These people aren't sober enough to detect me, hell, no one is even if they're not drunk.

"Waaah… Satoshi-chan, was dat'chu bringin' all the way o'er there…? Food? Hey, guys, cheggid out! Satoshi-chan's brought us food!"

"Yahoo! We won' hav'ta starve again t'night!"

"You da' man Satoshi!"

"Les'see… katsu set, onigiri, juice… it's a full course t'night guys!"

"Ahahaha… I was afraid that you wouldn't like them… so it took me a while to pick them up."

"Hey, hey, it's fine 's long as it's food! And it's free too!"

"Oh, and, uh, Satoshi-chan, you… do you have more money for us?"

Aha. Got'em.

I tuned out the conversation from here point onwards. Retreating a few meters back, I waited until Satoshi leaves the area. There's no need for him to be nearby when I'm dealing with these fucks. After a good five minutes of waiting, I saw Satoshi exiting the empty plot of land, he walked away, the direction he's taking is towards me. I made my way. I did not make eye contact with him and vice versa and just as I was about to past him, I tightened the fittings of my gloves.

Okay, Satoshi's out of the area, now I can go to work.

"Maaaaan! That kid's sure hella dumb in'he?!"

"Yeah! Brat thinks he's some sort of saint or whatever, bah!"

"Kids these days man, they're getting' dum'er and dum'er!"

And they laughed. Wow, now I won't have to feel bad for turning these guys into pretzels.

I stepped into the not-so-empty plot of land and did a split second assessment. Seven guys, drunk, high. There's a bonfire made from a barrel. They've been sleeping on hollowed construction cylinders and cardboard boxes. It smells like piss, shit and poverty all around. Empty beer bottles, cans and other sorts of empty alcohol containers are scattered all over the area. There's a huge, square makeshift home located in the center of the area, must be where the leader sleeps.

"Ey, ey! You there, who you!?"

Glancing towards the person who's alerted my presence to the rest of his friends. He approaches me, beer bottle in hand, his face plastered but angry.

Raising an eyebrow, I replied, "Who, me?"

"Yeah, who else?!"

"I'm just passing by." I said, calmly. "I heard a lotta noise so, I thought I'd check it out and as it turns out, I've stepped into the junkyard."

Unfortunately, he's sober enough to understand what I meant. "Why you little…!"

He swings his beer bottle at me. Tilting my body sideways, I swept underneath his swipe. Using my left hand to hold him by the shoulder, my right fist came crushing down his scalp, causing a loud and sickening CRUNCH to be heard. Ooh… that's a bit too much there. The guy is, obviously, unconscious. Letting go of his shoulder, I let him fall to the ground. Knocking one of their friends unconscious has made me their sole attention for the night. I saw some of them, despite their drunken state, beginning to get creative by grabbing some pipes, sticks, beer bottles and many more to be used as makeshift weapons.

Sighing, I cracked my knuckles.

"Looks like this'll take longer than I thought…" and by that, I mean five minutes more.

Three of them charged at me with their weapons drawn. Their weapons of choice are a lead pipe, two by four wooden plank and a broken umbrella. Naturally, I'd go for the ones on the side. So, I picked the one on the left. Kicking the lead pipe off his hands, a follow up roundhouse kick to the scalp is enough to knock his junkie ass out for good. I ducked underneath a wooden plank swiping past my original position before countering with a blow to the gut and then a rising knee attack to the dude's jaw. He was lifted up to the air for a good ten inches before crashing back down to the ground again. The guy with the umbrella hesitates to attack, so I took the initiative.

Two steps, the final one being a leap, were all I need to close to the distance between me and the guy. He raised his umbrella in reflex, but that umbrella of his is not at a state where it could withstand a force like the one that my kick delivered. He went rolling, crashing into one of the cardboard box homes.

"Hey! This dude's crazy, the rest of you, get'im!"

What is this, a nineties action flick?

The remaining three, including the guy that shouted the order to come get me, are the only ones here. Two of them, with a cry, charge with their fists. The one on the right delivers a jab, but I caught his fist, pulled him towards me, and kneed him on the gut before slamming him to the ground in a basic judo throw. The other one tries to compensate for his friend's mistakes, but his efforts too were not enough. It seems that this guy had a previous experience in fighting, judging by the spinning kick he did to catch me off guard. Instead of ducking underneath the kick or stepping aside to avoid it, I caught his leg in mid-air, twisted it, dropping him to the ground before stomping at it so hard that I probably dislocated his femur from his patella. Unable to handle the pain of getting his bone dislocated, he lets out a loud painful scream that echoes the empty street.

All six of them are either unconscious or in pain to be able to get up and cause any more trouble for me. I walked towards the final guy, no doubt the leader of these junkies. He's kneeling, body quivering in fear. Hm… when was the last time I had someone kneeling and shaking in fear before me… meh, can't remember. Stopping just a step away from him, I squat down on my heels to meet his level. I grabbed him by the collar, pulling his face close to mine so that I could look at him in the eye.

I made sure to have the recording feature of my phone on at this point.

"Tell me: that kid that came here earlier, how long have you been asking him for money to get your booze and drugs?"

"W-W-W-W-What kid man, I-I ain't see no ki-eeeeeeeeeeeh!"

I switched my grip to his right shoulder. Pressing down with a little force made him squeal in pain. I wonder what kind of noise will this fucker make if I punch him.

Probably none, cuz he'll be out cold.

I'll humor him. "Brown hair, middle school uniform, the kid that brought you those bentos earlier. Satoshi-chan as you've called him before." My voice is devoid of any humor, regardless of my intention of humoring him. "Tell me."

"A'ight, A'ight! J-Just don't hurt me man!" I released him of some of the pressure on his shoulder. "W-We've been doing it for a week b-but it's the kid's own fault, man, he was all easy and dumb!"

I can agree with that… "But you do know that it's wrong and illegal to use minors to get your booze and drugs, right?"

"W-Wha?! Illegal, dude, you ain't a cop, so don't be spouting this illegal bullshit on meeeeugh!"

Oh, look, his jaw's broken. And now he's crying. Great. Using both of my hands to fix his jaws back into place, I only did this so that I could get a few more information from him. "Hey, look, look at me." I slapped him a few times to get his attention. But he's crying, so it took a while. "Look at me." and he did, finally. "You're right, I ain't a cop. If I was a cop, then I wouldn't have fucked your guys and you up like I just did."

I squeezed his cheeks.

"Now answer me. Where did you get your drugs?"

"F-F-From t-the place…"

"That's not good enough. Tell me, where did you get drugs?" I squeezed harder with each words.

He told me the location.

"Okay, thank you." I let go.

…theeeeeeen I broke his jaws again, this time, rendering him unconscious too.

Sighing, I observed the mess I've caused tonight. Seven guys out cold. Great.

"Oh well, better get those cuffs out now…"

After cuffing all of them on the arms and legs, lining them up neatly, searching the whole place for their drug stash, laying out the drugs I found near the unconscious bastards and picking up and lining up the weapons that they used against me; I took several pictures with a digital camera that I bought earlier from a shop. I took just enough picture for the police to use later on. I searched one of the guy's pockets and found a phone. It's old, but it'll do.

I dialed 110.

"Hello, police? I overheard something about drugs and all that. Please dispatch some officers." I hung up, threw the phone on the ground. They should be able to triangulate the phone to this location, so, I better take my leave…

* * *

"So… this is where they distribute drugs to the street…"

On the outside, it appears to be a normal pharmacy run by certified pharmacist and doctors. But I knew better. The façade of the building is that of a twenty four hour pharmacy certified to provide customers with their pharmaceutical needs, but in reality, it's actually just a front business while the real profits come from distributing drugs to the streets. Buyers would get their drugs without prescription, obviously, and do so in great amounts, spending a lot of money. Then buyers would give the drugs to dealers, where they would reach out to people. But they couldn't sell it just yet, no.

They introduced the stuffs first to people that are easy to influence and manipulate, like Satoshi. They target underage kids, the homeless, teenagers with a difficult background with the purpose of getting them addicted so that they will come back to them for more. Of course, this worked, but it's sloppy. The police should be aware by now that drugs are in fact being distributed in the streets, but this is where the naturally reserved and patient Japanese mindset benefits the dealers. They wouldn't sell as often as other dealers in other countries like the West, instead of the approach and offer method, they took a more psychological approach; manipulating their victims from the sidelines, watching as their lives turn miserable. And when it's miserable enough to the point where resulting to drugs is the only viable option, they began making their profits from there.

Crime with intention. These people are aware of the result of their actions, yet they still commit these acts regardless. They purposely stepped into the lives of these people that will soon become a victim, introduce the unfathomable substances to them and then stepping back to watch as the result of their misconduct begin to take action. It's not the highest criminal offense that you could commit in Japan, but you would still be punished harshly, nonetheless. But there are loopholes in this subject.

For example, supposed that A is a drug dealer who has been targeting B, an underage minor with a difficult family background. A is fully aware of B's shortcomings and household situation and plans to introduce B to drugs. One day, A begins his approach of influencing B. A starts by projecting himself as a trustworthy figure and B soon believes that A is a good person who is willing to listen to his or her problems. In an attempt to finally test out if A has B in full control, A asks B to commit a small and petty crime. Supposedly that B succeeded in committing a crime, let's say, stealing a bike. A would reward him by giving small doses of the narcotics he plans to sell to B. B soon becomes addicted and begin to want more, A repeats the process while continuously rewarding B with drugs. When A is sure that B is fully dependent on drugs, A will cut all ties with B and when the next time B asks A for drugs, B – whether they want it or not – has to pay money for their drugs.

Yeah, it's a long and tedious process. But dedication and the motivation of money can sometimes make people do wicked things.

So, yeah, I won't feel bad if I have to break every single bones of the people that are in this building.

I stepped into the building with a henge to cover my identity. I took the form of a normal citizen, but my clothing says otherwise. Manipulating chakra through the ground, I created some sort of sonar that gave me more information about this building.

Two stories tall… a basement downstairs… total of twenty people in the building... CCTV in the shop area, probably more inside…

Thankfully, I'm the only customer here for the night.

That's all I need to know.

"Ah, excuse me, I would to ask for a recipe to me made." I approached the female clerk on the counter.

She flashes me a business smile. "Sure, may I see the prescription?"

I pulled out a paper. It's a special paper with a seal that could deliver a small surge of electricity to whoever touches it.

"Here it is."

"Let me take a lo-" and that's all she said before a small voltage of electricity shocks her unconscious. The sound of her hitting the floor garners the attention of another pharmacist, this time a guy.

"Oi, what did you-"

 **CRASH**

I slammed his face to the glass counter.

Vaulting over the counter, I made sure to move their bodies out of the way. I flipped the 'CLOSED' sign on the door earlier so that I wouldn't have to worry about roping other people into this mess.

"Two down…" I opened the back door that connects to rest of the building. There are stairs, one goes up to the second floor and another goes down to the basement. I chose the one that goes down the basement first. I plan on isolating the guys downstairs from the others upstairs.

Then, I remembered.

I'm a ninja.

"Kage Bunshin."

Five clones identical to my henge'd disguise pops up. "Three of you deal with the ones downstairs, the remaining two come with me upstairs."

They each gave me a grin. "Alright boss."

Me and two of my clones jogged up the stairs. My clones pulled up their cycling mask and then marched forward. Immediately, we're spotted by people.

"Hey, you're not allowed to be here!"

I signaled my clones. And they sprung to action.

The guy that shouted earlier was instantly out cold due to a drop kick to his face. More of his friends rushed outside to see the commotion and they're as eager to fight as the first guy was. I walked leisurely while I let my clones deal with incoming human traffic. Bodies are flying, teeth are knocked out of their gums and blood has been spilled.

 **CRASSASHS**

"WWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaah!"

 **BAM**

A car alarm went off.

I sent a nasty look to the clone who threw that guy out of the window. "Oi, we're at the second floor, you dummy."

"Hehe… sorry boss…"

Sighing, I let him resume with kicking ass. The one sided beat down continues until we reached the end of the hall where a single door is present. The plaque on the side of the door reads 'Head Office' oh, great, now I get to meet the guy who's responsible for all of this myself.

"They're waiting for us in there, boss." One of my clones told me, cracking his knuckles after a two minute session of beat down. "They probably have guns."

My other clone snorts. "No shit. Let's just barge in there, boss."

I shrugged. "Good idea." I nodded to the first clone. "You, kick the door down."

"On it."

And he did.

 **BLAM**

The door is blasted off from its hinges after being at the receiving end of a chakra enhanced kick. Gun fire went off and we quickly went to work. I slipped to the right, seizing three men off their guns and knocking them out in the end. My other clone did the same thing with the others and all that's left is the boss man himself, sitting on the swivel chair in the middle of the room. Of course, he's scared shitless. After all, three dudes – six if you're counting the rest of my clones currently in the basement – just beat up the entirety of his security detail and blasted his door off its hinges.

"W-W-W-Who're you!? Are you with the cops?!" he asks fearfully.

Instead of answering him, I directed my attention to my clones. "The rest of you, round these guys up on the roof and tie them all up. If you ran out of cuffs use anything that you could find."

"On it boss."

"H-Hey! What do you think you're doing?! This is my business over here, you can't do that!"

I raised an eyebrow. "I know. If this is any normal pharmacy, then I wouldn't have barged in here, beat up your guys and knocked down your doors. But since you're making drugs… that's a huge game changer, bub."

"D-Drugs?! I don't know what you're talking about!"

This guy…

I sighed. "Look here, buddy. It's like…" I took a moment to remember the time. "…ten at night and I'm sleepy. I have guys down there in your basement digging up for your secret stash." In fact, as I'm speaking with him, one of my dismissed itself so that I could learn about the pile of illegal narcotics as well as the lab where they're making them. "Scratch that, I also found where you've been making those stuffs."

The blood drained from his face, his entire complexion paled. I saw him sweating bullets, cold sweat. He becomes a mumbling and jumbling mess, trying to find reasons.

But, hey, I caught him red handed already anyway so does it really matter now if I just knocked him out, tie him up and dump him in with the rest of his boys on the roof?

No, it doesn't matter.

"Hey, you got something on your face." I told him.

"W-What?"

 **WHAM**

"My fist. That's what." I kicked his legs.

Aaaah… I get to fight, release some of my chakra, stop a drug lord from distributing more drugs and save a big sister from worrying about her little brother.

What more could I ask for?

* * *

After yesterday's… midnight madness, I'm pretty sleepy.

Yawning, I rubbed my eyes to get rid of the sleepiness. It's after school already and I'm currently sitting on my usual spot in the club room while Yui and Yukinoshita are having their girl talk on the other side of the table. They're having too much fun into it, I didn't dare interrupt them.

Let me give a brief review of what happened.

After cleaning up the mess from last night's mischief, the police came and did their job of arresting those guys. Earlier today, in the morning, it was all shown in the news. Of course, I made sure to clean up my involvement there. I deleted all security footage and I was wearing a henge after all, so I shouldn't have to worry about the police coming to school to investigate. I sent the recording from those junkies as soon as I reached home last night, which was pretty late at night, around twelve if I was not mistaken. But it seems that Asahi-senpai received the recording because she gave me a message saying,

 **Thank you Uzumak-san! Satoshi will see this and he will believe me!**

Or something along those lines. The media is still clueless as to who was responsible for the acts of vigilantism that managed to expose the truth behind that pharmacy, and I'm happy as long as it stays that way.

"Ne, ne, Yukinon, Maki, why don't we go out for Baskin Robbins today!" Yui exclaims, garnering both mine and Yukinoshita's attention. "They have a special promo, buy two get one free!"

"Hm… judging by the way you're so keen on getting this promo, I conclude that you will be the one who gets the free ice cream while me and Uzumaki-kun will have to pay for our own?"

"W-What? N-No! The three of us will split the price for those two ice creams of course!"

I grinned. "Oho? Who knew that you'd be so cunning, Yui~?"

"N-No! Maki you jerk, don't make me look bad!"

Who are you, Eustace? **(6)**

"It seems that we only have you to blame for Yuigahama-san's sudden change in attitude, Uzumaki-kun."

"Oi."

Before the three of us could banter even more, three knocks are laid on the door to our club room. We reassumed our original positions and Yukinoshita, being our club leader, responds to the knocking.

"Come in."

The door slides open, revealing Hiratsuka-sensei.

"Hm? Why are the three of you looking at me like that? Is it that strange for me to knock…?" she asks us dryly.

Yukinoshita answers her. "Indeed… but you only have yourself to blame for that, Hiratsuka-sensei." Our club president gives a sophisticated nod. "They say that habits do not die easily, so it was a surprise for us to see you knocking before entering."

Uwaah… you're mean, Yukinoshita…

"What are you here for, Hiratsuka-sensei?" Yui asks. "Is it another request?"

Our club advisor shakes her head. "No, nothing like that. I just want to tell you guys that the Cultural Festival's coming up and that each class will have to decide on what to do." She looks at Yukinoshita. "Yukinoshita, I'm sure that you're aware of this already, no?"

"Indeed." Yukinoshita nods her head.

Sensei too. "Good. Yuigahama, Uzumaki, since the two of you are in my class, please think of ideas on what the class should do for the festival. Of course, you'll have to involve the rest of your classmates too."

Alright, while she's busy, let me sneak out…

"I'm expecting you to cooperate too, Uzumaki."

Crap, I was found out!

Sitting back down on my chair, I nodded stiffly. "Sure, whatever."

Hiratsuka-sensei sighs, pinching the bridge of her nose tiredly. "Haaah… seriously, this kid…"

Hey, don't look at me like that…

"Oh, yeah speaking of which, Uzumaki."

I perked up, as well as Yukinoshita and Yui.

"Did a third year by the name of Asahi Hinata come to the club yesterday?"

Oh yeah, Asahi-senpai found out about this club through Hiratsuka-sensei, of course she'd ask me about her! Thinking quickly, I managed to answer without looking or sounding suspicious.

"She only asked me to carry some stuffs from the storage room outside, nothing else, really."

But Hiratsuka-sensei's not backing down just yet. "Really?"

"Yeah."

"Hm… okay then." She shrugs. "You guys better leave soon, it's getting late." Then, she walks out of the room.

I mentally sighed. Now all I have to do is convince Asahi-senpai to never talk about her request ever again and I'm set…

…eh, looks like I'm not set just yet.

"Muuu…"

"…"

"Why… are the two of you looking at me like that?"

"Uzumaki-kun." Yukinoshita's voice is cold. Like, ice cold.

"Yeah?"

"Who is this Asahi Hinata-senpai?"

"Ah! That's the person who was looking for you yesterday, wasn't it, Maki!"

"Oho?" I can see the gleam in Yukinoshita's eyes. "Looks like we'll have a lot to talk about while we have our ice cream, Uzumaki- _kun_."

There's no rest for me, is there?

* * *

 **1: How I make/eat my ramen irl.**

 **2: Some ramen joints in Japan offers you noodle refill services. Jealous? You better be.**

 **3: Know that one kid who always brings a full course meal at school complete with all the fancy stuffs? Yeah, he or she is probably rich.**

 **4: Emiya Shirou.**

 **5: Michael Buble's It's a beautiful day.**

 **6: The cranky old guy from Courage the Cowardly Dog.**

 **So, uh, there it is people, chapter twelve. I thought of doing something new and interesting, sparing you guys from the drama and all that with this chapter.**

 **Asahi Hinata is an OC, so I'm not sure if you'll be seeing her anytime soon in the future just yet. But what I'm sure is that the plot is moving forward. The Cultural Festival is starting and the main storyline will revolve around Yukinoshita and Yuigahama once again. Oh, and Naruto too, of course.**

 **I apologize if my action scenes do not meet the standard of mediocre writing, it's simply because I suck at writing action scenes. No other reason aside from that, really.**

 **And, uh, happy holidays I guess?**


	13. Let's get down to business

**NOTIFICATION SQUAD! WHERE YOU AT?!**

 **Author's Note: If I'm able to write this story and hit the 10K limit, I'm awesome.**

 **EDIT: I PASSED THAT. I'M A GOD!**

* * *

"Do I really have to do it?"

Great, Naruto, you just can't contain yourself can you? Now people are looking at you as if you're an obese guy at the fitness center.

" _Sorry brat, but it's directly from the people above. I already told them that you hate stuff like this but they said that it'd do the company and ultimately you some good if you at least attend the meet."_

I could not hold back the groan I'm about to let out. "But Tanaka-san… do you know how annoying fanbases can be?"

" _Oh of course I know. I'm your manager. And as your manager, I'm telling you to suck. it. up."_

" _Ah, the meeting is two weeks from now, meaning, you'll have a lot of time to prepare for it."_

She closed the line.

Great, my manager's a grouchy MILF…

As you can see from the conversation I just had with my manager, the publishing company I'm working for wants me to attend this… fan meet, something I absolutely abhor next to cold ramen. I don't have a problem with meeting fans in general, if one spots me in public, come over and says 'Hi', I'll talk to him or her and maybe sign their forehead or something. But when you confine me inside a room with people who are… _crazy_ addicted to erotica, you can count me out.

Not to mention, in those kinds of meets, I have to answer questions that I may or may not have answered in the previous meet. Speaking of which, the last fan meeting was a while ago and – fortunately – I didn't remember anything about it. The fact that Tanaka-san just informed me about it yesterday isn't helping in the slightest. Now I can't change her mind!

Sighing, my forehead hit the metal pole I'm currently holding on to.

Currently, I'm on my way to downtown to run several errands. I'd let my clones do the work for me but I was bored playing videogames at home, so I decided to do this myself. What kind of errands, you might ask… well, let's just say that it involves a certain woman that I am not too keen on seeing, like, ever. Then why am I meeting this woman?

Good question.

As if to mock me, my phone buzzes in the most perfect of time. Grabbing the rectangular piece of electronic, I looked at the screen to see the sender ID.

Yukinoshita Haruno.

"Guh…" I'm making the face of a guy who's just taken a bite of lemon. "The fuck… why am I in this mess again?"

Sliding open the screen, it seems that I'll have to see the message that Haruno sent me in order to remind myself why.

 **From: Onee-san  
To: Uzumaki Naruto-kun  
Re: Hey, hey!**

I swear to God, she's the one who inputted her own name into my contact list!

 **Hello, hello Uzumaki-kun!  
Don't forget our appointment,  
being late will cost you a lot of points!**

So let me start explaining why I am on my way meeting this… woman.

 **Flashback**

" _That will be 4500 yen."_

" _Sure."_

 _Handing the cashier the exact amount of money, I then left the store with my groceries inside my shopping bag. I don't like using plastic bags, because they'll just become trash at the end of the day anyway. Stifling a yawn, I really need to get home quick. Komachi said that she's coming over and will be having dinner at my place._

 _This means two things: the first one being her mom having to work overtime again, leaving her alone at home or the second one – the likeliest conclusion out of the two – her mom won't be home and she's lazy to cook for herself. Her mom's probably busy with work, especially with the fan meeting she's just informed me earlier today._

 _Of course, I'm more than happy to make and eat dinner with her._

 _I got the necessary stuff to make stew, might've splurged a little bit more than necessary but I'll use whatever's left for tomorrow's dinner. Since I'm making stew, I'll have to start prepping as soon as I reach home._

 _As I was reviewing the recipe in my head, my phone buzzed, disrupting me from my thoughts. I took it out._

 _ **From: Best Imouto 4evah Komachi!  
To: Oniiiiiii-chan  
Re: Sorry!**_

 _ **Onii-chan! I'm so sowwy!  
Komachi won't be able to eat dinner wit u.  
Mom wants to take me out for dinner with sum  
of her friends! I'll make it up to you! ah!  
dat scores a lot of points!**_

 _Kuh! How unfortunate! I won't get to eat a delicious dinner with my (unrelated) little sister! Such misfortune…_ _ **(1)**_

 _No matter, this means that I'll just have to cook for one portion only. Oh well._

 _Just I as I was about to continue walking, my phone buzzes again. I checked, thinking that it was Komachi._

 _But no, it's…_

" _Yukinoshita Haruno…"_

 _Oh no. and what's worse, it's a call, which means that I have to answer it. Wait, do I have to answer it? I could just ignore it and say that I was busy or asleep or something right? I mean, why is she even calling me in the first place? After much contemplating, I decided to answer her call anyway, against my better judgment._

" _Hello." My voice is like sandpaper._

" _Hello, hello Uzumaki-kun, how are you this fine afternoon~?" ugh… her voice is sooo out of place. I'm used to hear that kind of playful, scheming and plotting tone from Tanaka-san when she wants me to do something unreasonable._

" _I'm fine, Haruno-san."_

" _Maa, maa, don't call me with the 'san', just call me Haruno! Or, even better, call me nee-san! You'll be dating Yukino-chan some time later anyway."_

" _Since when have we established the fact that I'll be dating your sister…" The hell is with this woman? Why couldn't I detect any hint of sarcasm in her voice before?_

" _But you and Yukino-chan are close, right? I heard that she even brought you to the infirmary after a little accident on the stairs~?"_

 _How did she-?!_

" _How do you know that?" I asked, my eyes narrowed. "Don't tell me that you have people spying on your sister, and ultimately me, at school?"_

" _Maa, maa, who knows?~" she chuckles. "Anyway, Uzumaki-kun, what are you doing right now?"_

" _I'm at home." I answered without missing a beat._

" _Lying is bad you know, Uzumaki-kun, I can hear the sound of cars from my end. Don't underestimate the power of technology, your phone's microphone is quite sensitive."_

 _Okay, getting caught lying is pretty embarrassing. Sighing, I have no choice here guys. "I'm on the way back after some grocery shopping. I just returned from school too."_

" _Ah, I see, I see… ne, Uzumaki-kun, could we meet up tomorrow? There's this new place downtown that I want to try…"_

 _Without missing a beat, I answered. "Then why don't you go there yourself? You're an adult, aren't you?"_

" _Moou, so insensitive, Uzumaki-kun, now I know why Yukino-chan's all grouchy…" she pauses, and I can see her pouting despite not actually seeing her. "Just accompany me, kay? I'll treat you, even."_

" _No."_

" _They have cake and tea."_

" _No." how persistent is this woman?_

" _Muu… and why is that?"_

" _Because I have better things to do." Duh._

" _Oho? Like what?"_

" _Like, I don't know, not being anywhere near you?"_

" _Uwaaah…" I can hear her voice in mock pain. "You're mean, Uzumaki-kun, now I know why Yukino-chan insults you in her texts."_

 _Oi, oi, she's insulting me even in her texts?! Just how fucking savage is that woman?!_

" _But, really, Uzumaki-kun, won't you come and accompany me?" any lesser men would've fallen from the tone she's using, but thankfully, I know how devious and sly Haruno can be. She's rich, beautiful and definitely a hundred percent eye candy; those traits alone should be enough to make men fall for her._

 _Not to mention, she's also good at dealing with people, or talking to them at least. She's, like, the heir of her family's corporation, right?_

 _Wait, wait a minute._

 _Hmm…_

 _I can use this._

" _Um… hey, Haruno-san?"_

" _Mmm, yeah?"_

"… _looks like I'll meet up with you after all."_

" _Oh my? Are you finally showing interest in this Onee-san? What would Yukino-chan think…"_

" _No, no." please, stop it. "I want to ask you for a favor."_

" _A favor, huh? I'm not cheap, you know, it might just cost you." ugh… how cliché of you to say that…_

" _Ugh… we'll discuss the details tomorrow. E-mail me your address."_

" _Oh, you don't have to. I already put my contact details into your contact list~."_

" _When?!"_

" _Last time during the fire work." She's giggling._

"… _how?" I'm the ninja in this story here!_

" _A woman has her ways, Uzumaki-kun." I can picture her winking while saying that. "Anyway, I'll text you the place, later~!"_

 **Present**

Oh yeah… that plot convenience happened… oh well, no use crying over spilled milk. The faster I meet her, the faster I'll get this whole thing over.

By the way, as you can tell by the fact that I'm not in school, today's Saturday, making it a holiday. The train's not so crowded, because not everyone in Chiba is using it like the usual rush hour on weekdays. Stopping at station of my choosing, I got out of the train to proceed towards my destination.

After several minutes of walking, I've arrived. We're not meeting up at a café this time, nope. Well, it is a café but it's also a bar, as in, they actually serve alcohol here. The place, from what I've heard, is usually full during evenings and since it's just several minutes after noon, there are not many people. Pushing the front door open, a bell rings, alerting my presence. There're no waiters or waitresses in sight, looks like I'll have to sit down first before they could actually service me.

"Ah, Uzumaki-kun!" oh, look, someone's calling my name. Looks like I won't have to waste time looking for a place to sit. Of course, it's none other than my companion for the day, Yukinoshita Haruno herself.

When my eyes landed on her, I needed to remind myself that this is the type of woman that is comparable to that of Anko-sensei. Plus, why is she dressed so… fancily? Seriously, I mean, what she's wearing is something that you'd see a girl wear when she's going out with her other girl friends, like, to the mall or something… needless to say, she's getting all sorts of attention from the little male population inside the shop.

Sighing, I held back a headache and failed in doing so.

Walking towards the seat that she has kindly reserved for me, I can hear her giggling. "You're dashing as always, Uzumaki-kun."

"Thanks, I think you're pretty too…" Detect my sarcasm, woman.

"My, my! You're flirting with another girl even though you already have Yukino-chan? On her own sister nonetheless? You are such a sinnder, Uzumaki-kun~! My!" ugh… can't she detect sarcasm? "Anyway, I'm so glad that you could come, Uzumaki-kun, but minus ten points!" she makes a pouting face.

Sighing, I entertained her. "And why is that?"

"For making me wait, of course! Don't you know it's rude to make a woman wait?" I would've retorted to her question, I got no solid comeback for her. Next time… "Anyway, I ordered a parfait for the both of us, you're fine with sharing with me, right?"

She ordered food for me already? And we're sharing it? What the hell woman, you're not my mom. "What flavor is it?" I couldn't help but ask.

"Strawberry!"

"Ugh…"

She blinks after hearing my reaction. "What's wrong, you don't like strawberries?"

"Yes… I'd rather eat chocolate." I don't like strawberries. They're too… sweet and sour for me. Ugh.

"Muu… even though I ordered for you already…"

Wait, shit, we're getting carried away with this pointless conversation. I need to ask her about something.

"Ah, speaking of which, Haruno-san." I started.

"Hm?" she smiles, winking at me. "Onee-chan is fine you know?"

"Haruno-san." I insisted heavily. "You're an alumni from Soubu, right?" I mean, there's no hurt in confirming it, right?

"Yes I am, ah, does this have to do with the upcoming school festival?" whoa, she's sharp. Looks like this will be easier for me. "Do you need any help? Advice perhaps? Speaking of which, have your class announced it already?"

"Not yet." I shook my head. "But I think they'll announce it on Monday. But, yeah, I guess I kind'a need your insight in this." it pains me to admit it but I'll have to work with the devil herself.

"Ohohoho? What's this, Uzumaki-kun is really asking me for help?" stop doing that fake gasp, it's annoying. "Today's the best day of my life!" well, it's the worst day for me. "So, what is it that I can help you with, Uzumaki-kun?"

Resting my chin on an open palm, I voice out my words, "Were you involved in anything major in the school festival during your time in Soubu?"

"I was the committee chairman!" is that really something that you should be proud of? I mean, sure, lording around a bunch of kids to make them do exactly what you told them to do sure gives that certain satisfaction but, really? "Ah, I also performed a live music performance, it was so memorable!"

Geez, there's no need to reminisce, already… "Yeah, sure, anyway, that's only the first half of what I'll need your help with." I pretty much know what'll happen in the elections for committee volunteers anyway. "You see, there's this fan meeting that I'll be hosting."

"Hm?" ah, that's rare, she's actually surprised. "Fan meeting? What sort of fan meeting?"

I took out a rectangular object from my pants' pocket. It's compact in size, otherwise it wouldn't have fit in there in the first place. "Recognize this?"

"T-That's…!"

Oho? Yukinoshita Haruno is blushing? Kuh! If only I had been quicker, I would've gotten her face on camera! "Yes, this is Icha Icha." **Pocket Edition** , now on sale in your nearest bookstore. "To be blunt, I'm the writer of this book."

"…"

"…"

"…r-really?" a very small voice that I thought I would never hear coming out from Yukinoshita Haruno's mouth just came out of her mouth. "W-Wow… I'm surprised…" and she is, I mean, she's all fidgety and stuff! And it's scaring me! I'd rather her be scary than like this! "But… my, my… who would've thought that you are the author of a book as… infamous as that?"

I blinked several times in confusion at her wording. "Infamous?"

"Yes, infamous." She giggles. By then, she must've noticed the look on my face. "Infamous because men worship you for your work and most females are ashamed to own a copy of your books... even though they secretly do."

Then why did they buy one in the first place?! God, I'll never understand people! But she brings up a very good thought. "So… which one are you then, Haruno-san?" I asked, allowing a small smirk to form. "Are you one of those females who are ashamed to own a copy of my book, or the other one? Do you even own one in the first place?"

Giggling, she smirks, matching mine. "That. Is. A. Secret." She does this breathing noise as she speaks the words in one separate breath, sending tingles down my spine.

"Guh…" don't pull that femme fatale card of me now woman. "Anyway, see, I want you to become an event's coordinator for said fan meeting."

"Oh my." Her eyes actually widen a few centimeters. "That sounds like a pain."

"Can't you be more blunt…" I replied dryly. "Well then, how about this, can you recommend me a good place to conduct this fan meeting?"

"Hmm… I suppose I can." Haruno-san says. Thank God. "But you'll owe me a lot, Uzumaki-kun!"

Yeah, I'm prepared to hear those words come out of her mouth. Swallowing my doubt, I nodded. "Yeah, I'll owe you."

"Then… since you'll be owing me a lot of favors, I want to use one of those favors for you to eat the parfait that I've ordered with me!"

"So soon!" I barked, surprised at how shallow she is right now. "Fine, but to be safe, I'll make a limit here." I raised three fingers. "Three favors. That's all. You've used one, so you got two left. Use them properly." After all, not many people got to have the great Uzumaki Naruto indebted to them! Mwahaha!

"Hmm…" she makes a thinking expression, with all the gesture and look and all. "I wonder… should I make you call me 'Onee-chan~' for the whole month with my next call, I wonder?"

"No, no, please, put some more thoughts into it." this woman really knows when not to hold back, doesn't she? In any case, I'm indebted to her, that's a fact. I'll also be calling her 'Onee-chan~' for the rest of the month, that's a fact too… unfortunately.

After several minutes of waiting, a waitress finally arrives with he-I mean, our order.

"Here you go ma'am." The waitress says, placing the expensive treat on the table. "One Lovey-Dovey Strawberry Parfait." **(2)**

What's with that name?! The marketing team is so insensitive! What if someone who's single wants to eat it, huh?! Not to mention, it's cringey!

Picking up one of the two spoons that are served alongside the treat, Yukinoshita's sister begins to dig into the parfait.

"Let's eat, Uzumaki-kun~!"

Sighing, I also grabbed my own spoon.

At least the wafers are chocolate…

* * *

"Tanaka-san, yeah, about that meeting… I found someone who could handle with organizing the event… no, no, it's free. Well, not completely free since our people will have to prepare the refreshments and all that… the person and her team will coordinate the event. Yes, please, please for the love of whatever higher beings there is, bring some security detail for me… I don't want a repeat of what happened the last time we held this kind of event. Yeah, class's starting… thank you… yeah, see you, and yes, I'll go and pick up Komachi after school. Bye."

Mothers…

Well, I can't say anything else other than that, because I'm also the same when it comes to Komachi's safety.

Pocketing my phone, I really shouldn't be having a phone call inside the classroom regardless if class is in session or not. The thing is, Soubu allows you to bring your phone, like most school in Japan, but having a phone call is not something that you should be doing regardless of the time. So, it's only natural that several eyes would find themselves on me.

Of course, I'm ignoring them. The phone call is important, after all, because I couldn't call Tanaka-san at all over the weekend. After finishing the parfait, talking and exchanging ideas with Yukinoshita's sister at the bar café at Saturday, I was jam-packed with writing quotas. Took me two days. As far as writing goes, I try not to rely on my clones, because – despite them being completely me in every sense – I really need to micromanage my own work. Yes, clones be damned, it's useless if it's not me.

As I have discussed with Haruno-san the other day, today – which is Monday – we'll be discussing about the whole School Festival thing. Yeah. How do I know? Well, it's because Hiratsuka-sensei is late, and she is rarely late. She's probably busy with a faculty meeting that is related to the School Festival.

"Psst!"

Looking over my shoulder, I saw Yui calling me a few seats away from mine.

"Maki, who were you calling?"

I narrowed my eyes. "Now that's rude, Yui… can't a guy get some privacy?"

"W-Well… it's your fault for having a phone call inside the classroom in the first place! S-So, I can't help but get curious…" aw, now I feel bad goddamit.

Sighing, I told her the gist of what's in my conversation. "It's work related. Something troublesome is going to happen and I'll have to endure through it, nothing that will interest you."

"Muu…" now what are you pouting for? I told you, right? "If you don't want to tell me then just say so! Hmph! Stupid Maki…"

"Hey, hey…" how unreasonable can you be, woman?

"Alright class, settle down." Oh, looks like she's here already. What timing. Hiratsuka-sensei walks into the classroom, closing the door behind her. She takes her usual spot in the front-middle, getting all of our attention. "Today's homeroom will begin with a discussion about the upcoming School Festival."

That brings up a mixed reaction from the class. Some are chatting, expressing how much they're looking forward to the particular event, talking about all the fun things that they'll probably do. Some are even complaining at how much of a drag the festival could be, referencing to past years as evidence. And the last grouping are just, 'meh'.

Me? Well, I'm all for the festival. Besides, it's a good time to promote my books. Not openly, of course, the school won't allow that. But if we're talking about camaraderie and participation and all that, no thank you, I don't want to be dragged up into the sort of events that these kids will be doing.

I'm gonna be busy with my own job and not to mention, there's that damned fan meeting… grr… how I wish I could punch the head of the PR department.

"Class rep, please takeover."

Hm… looks like we're going to start off with the selecting the committee member for the festival.

"Alright, we're going to start with the selection of the festival committee member. Each class should have two representatives, a boy and a girl." Says the glasses wearing boy who… wait, he's our class rep?!

But, anyway, see? I was right! There's no way I'm going to volunteer myself for something like this, naturally.

"Hmm… as teacher, I nominate Uzumaki Naruto for the male representative."

"OBJECTION!"

What the hell woman?!

Everyone is staring at me, I mean, I just pulled a Phoenix Wright, so of course they'd stare at me; I even did the pointing finger and everything! I can see Hiratsuka-sensei smirking from her spot, resting her sweet ass on the edge of her desk. Her look screams _'whatchu gonna do, son?'_ at me, and I don't like every single ounce of it.

"Why?!" naturally, I demanded. "Why me!?"

"Because why not?"

…

"You… did I make you mad, sensei?" my voice came out like that of a choked pigeon's.

Her eyes twinkle, making me shiver a little bit. "No." in other words, I somehow did. "But you did give me shit essay a lot of times in the past, so consider this the first of many ways that you could repent for those." How dare she wink at me! And why did I find it hot?!

No, that last part's on me.

Sighing, I sat back down to my chair. My cheeks must be red because of the laughing that some of my classmates are giving me. "Stupid Christmas Cakes and their persistence…" **(3)**

" **What was that Uzumaki?"**

"Nothing Ma'am." Damn, her hearing is sharp as always.

When your name's on the board, there's no hoping for a chance of being out-voted. In events like this, ordinary students would normally try their best to avoid being nominated for any position in the committee. I think that's the case with most people, regardless of how productive or active you are, the idea of being responsible for a large number of people is still something that most people won't take so easily. So, naturally, the nomination stops here.

"Since the voting for the male representative has been closed, we'll proceed to the females."

Yup, it's decided. Haah… looks like I'm gonna need those clones after all.

"Uh… is the job of a representative really that hard?" I can hear Yui asking her other blonde friend, the girl who's always sticking next to Hayama.

"Well, you'll be one of the people in charge of making the festival go through smoothly, so I guess it'll be hard? Depends on what kind of position you'll get in the committee itself, though." The blonde git says. "And Yui, remember, you'll be helping us advertise, so you can't do committee work and that at the same time!"

"O-Oh yeah…"

Oh yeah. They're gonna delegate you positions in the committee itself. Damn… hope I don't get something as troublesome as PR… I'd rather take on accounting than that. Dealing with numbers is far easier than dealing with people, because numbers are constant. And they don't bitch at you when you make a mistake.

C'mon… let's just get this over with.

"Sensei! I'll become the female representative from this class!"

Well whaddaya know, looks like someone volunteered on their own after all.

But hey… isn't she… hm… she looks familiar.

A girl with distinguishable purple hair, wonder why I haven't seen her befo-aha! She's that chick that talked to Yui during the summer's festival! Yeah, I'm sure of it. Now that I'm looking at her, I noticed her friends that were with her at the summer festival are sitting around her too. What a small world we live in.

Hm? Why is she winking at me like that? And why are her friends giggling?

In any case, I hope that Haruno-san is doing her job. Not that I'm doubting her or anything, Yukinoshita is related to her after all, knowing the younger Yukinoshita, I don't doubt Haruno-san's productivity. More like, I can't.

* * *

Hmm… oh, there she is. Whew, of course she'd be here.

Oh, I'm talking about Yukinoshita. Looks like I was right, she'll be involved in committee work, it's predictable, expectable, foreseeable and all sorts of able. Uwah, she's glaring at me, why are you so mad? It's still too early to get mad at me, I mean, we're not even in the club room yet! Her eyes are glaring at me, conveying painful intentions if I were to stare at her any longer.

Anyway, all of the representatives gathered from the second year classes are in the Conference Room. As the name suggests, we are going to be discussing about committee related things in here, looks like I'll have to get used to being in a room filled with… diligent and completely participative people… though I get the feeling that Yukinoshita's here for a completely different reason.

Smirking, I probably annoyed Yukinoshita further by doing that, not to mention, I'm still staring at her general direction.

' _Keep your eyes to yourself, Uzumaki-kun, having you staring at me with those eyes of yours is embarrassing…'_

…is probably what she's trying to say to me, but she can't since there're a lot of people.

Tough luck, Yukinoshita, you'll just have to let me bask in the satisfaction of seeing you irritated.

"Psst, Uzumaki-kun!"

A hushed voice whispers right next to me. I turned my head, turning to address the person. The person seated next to me, on my right, is none other than the female representative of 2-F herself, Sagami Minami, at least that's what she's introduced herself as. She gives me a smile that, for some obvious reason, doesn't sit too right with me.

"Let's do our best, mmkay?"

"Sure." Meh, might as well lend the people a helping hand.

The head coordinator is none other than the student council president herself, Shiromeguri Meguri-senpai. Hmm… I wonder why I haven't met her before… she's the prez, right, she gotta be important, so, why haven't I heard of her before? Anyway, she's this very attractive and mashmellow-y person at first glance. Her gaze is as soft as a cloud and her smile is one of the most honest smiles I've ever seen a person had.

"Alright, let's begin the meeting. First things first, let's start with the selection of the Committee Chariman!"

Now, imagine what happened earlier in class, except, double the impact, weight, words and unwillingness to volunteer.

Yeah, that's pretty much what it is right now.

The people gathered in this room are people who're known to be participative and diligent when it comes to volunteering! Yet, no one is doing anything! Not even Yukinoshita. In fact, by the looks of it, Yukinoshita is trying not to stand out.

"Hm… aren't you Yukinoshita Yukino-san?" Shiromeguri-senpai finally notices Yukinoshita, who reacts. "You're Haru-san's little sister!"

Oh no…

"Haru-san was committee chairwoman, you know! The festival that year went down in Soubu High School history!" hey, uh, prez, you might wanna tone down your worship of that woman, it's not gonna do her ego any good… in fact, I think you're making it worse by complimenting her in front of her little sister whom she has a rather bitter reputation with.

"Would you like to take the position, I'm sure that you can—"

"I'll do my best as a **member**."

…yeah hear that? That's her way of telling: 'shut the fuck up'.

I may not know Yukinoshita's reason for not wanting to become chairwoman, but I guess it has something to do with her sister used to being the chairwoman herself. The thing is, about sibling feuds, you can't really tell or say who's in the wrong… I should know, my asshole of a best friend was a victim of one in the past.

"What do you think, Uzumaki-kun, do you think I'm suitable for the position?" hm, oh, I forgot you were here.

And why in the hell are you asking me that? I barely know you! The last time you appeared in this story, you're only there for the purpose of creating suspense!

"Uh… I don't know." I was gonna follow up with a 'do you think I care' or something along that line but I can't really say that without getting attention to myself now can I?

But, I spoke, regardless,

"But I suggest that you leave the position to someone who is competent enough to deal with it. The thing about today's committee or any other hierarchical structure is that the head is the one that supports the body, not the other way around. You'll have your time, energy, motivation and even health sucked out from your very being; having to satisfy the people that you know you can't please. Regardless if you do it for appearance or the experience of trying out something new, I don't really see the point of dragging yourself down if it means you're gonna drag the rest of your team down with you."

Yeah, that's my honest thought. I mean, it's visible in society.

No need for complicated examples, take the one we're having for an instance. We're all desperately waiting for someone noble enough to bear the crown of responsibility on their head and carry the burden of consequence on their shoulders. We want one person to take, make and call all of the shots so that we won't have to take burnt of the damage.

As far as I'm concerned, it's the body (members) that should take all the damage and not the head (leader) straight up. After all, only a dumb person would want to get hit on the head first...

"Whoa… that's, like, so deep Uzumaki-kun… why don't you become the committee chairman?" eh, Sagami-san, didn't you hear what I just say before?

"No, no, that's not-"

"Yes, is there anyone willing to volunteer?" Shiromeguri-senpai's question is indirectly directed to me. She's voicing it out as a general question that everyone could answer, but her gesture and focus are all directed towards me, projecting everyone's attention to me. Yes, even Yukinoshita.

"Eh…" dammit, I need to be firm here. "Nothing."

"Oh… very well then…" now don't make a sad face like that! You'll make me feel guilty for not being chairman! Kuh… somehow, seeing Shiromeguri-senpai's sullen and downcast face triggers my **Onii-chan system**! In fact, my **Daddy system** might also get triggered too! Curse me for being waaaay older than these kids combined! Curse that bitch Kaguya too while I'm at it!

"Uh, a question, president." Yes, you, some random unnamed and unimportant side character whose only use is to be this plot's Deus Ex Machina, say something that will make that woman stop being sad! "Will we be following last year's event structure as well this year?"

What, no! Don't ask useless questions like that!

"Yes, we will be following last year's structure. Haru-san was the one who restructured and polished the original festival event structure and we've received a lot of positive feedbacks by following her layout. I don't see the need to change into something new, besides, it will definitely save time for us." Murmurs of agreement breaks out amidst the committee members.

Hm… looks like I was right. Haruno-san knows what she's doing after all.

"Heeh… this Haru-san person… she's Yukinoshita-san's sister? Hm, she sounds incredible, is the trait passed on to the next person, I wonder?"

Okay, that confirms it.

Sagami Minami is not an ally that anyone could rely on. She's going to be a thorn on our side.

The purple haired girl intentionally spoke the words she's just said out loud, so that a certain blue eyed and black haired Ice Queen could hear it. I saw the reaction from Yukinoshita herself. The subtle grimace, clenching of hands and furrowing of eyebrows. After seeing the normally composed, yet sometimes vulnerable, club president reacting like that; I could not help but step in.

"Sagami-san… was it?"

"Yes, what is it, Uzumaki-kun?" girls are scary. They can insult people and look harmless at the same freaking time. "Ah, I know, if I become committee chairman, can I elect you as **my** vice chairman? You don't mind, right?"

A cold smile is the only thing I can give her.

"Sure. It's going to be a pleasure working with you, Sagami-san."

Her face brightens up like a million stars. "Great!" Sagami raises her hands, drawing everyone's attention at her. "Uh, president, I volunteer to be committee chairman for the school's festival!"

Her face lights up a brilliant rose-like color.

"A-And… I elect Uzumaki Naruto-kun as my vice chairman!"

Claps break out, along with several praises. Sagami basks in them, even the president herself is clapping. Yukinoshita sends me a look of unfiltered surprise, looking worried and clueless. She looks me with those questioning eyes, but I merely smiled. I mouthed,

' _Trust me.'_

Her look of worry falters, before settling to its usual composed and refined self, with a small smile to top it off. She mouths back to me,

' _Alright.'_

I stood up, bringing Sagami along with me.

"E-Eh, Uzumaki-kun?!"

Sagami Minami. There is one thing that you should know.

"Since the position of committee and vice committee chairman has been delegated to Sagami-san and myself, the both of us promise that this year's Soubu High School Festival will be the best one there is to ever be recorded in Soubu High School's history!"

I don't like it when you hurt those precious to me.

Cheers erupted, though not too loud, it's far more audible than the one before. The clapping intensifies too.

"Hey, are they dating?"

"Yeah, I think they are… they're Sagami Minami-san and Uzumaki Naruto-kun from class 2-F, right?"

"They're from the same class, no wonder they seem close."

Which is why I'll teach you a lesson, Sagami Minami, a lesson that you will never forget.

I'm gonna make you work the hardest among us all.

* * *

"Are you sure what you did was wise, Uzumaki-kun?"

"I wouldn't say 'wise'… but was it right, definitely." That girl needs a lesson, and I'm gonna be the one who'll lecture her.

The three of us, including Yui, are in the club room. It's after school, which means it's time for club activity. Now normally, I'd be reading a book, drinking chocolate milk or reviewing my manuscript; but since I just did what I did during the committee meeting earlier today, those are luxuries that I could not do. Yukinoshita herself is already beginning to start working on her share of the committee work, I can't slack off myself.

Earlier, during lunch break, I made a clone and told him to sneak out from school so that he could continue the manuscript from where I left off. I left my laptop at home, by the way.

Right now, I have multiple stacks of papers that need some reading. Since I'm Vice Chairman, and Sagami is the Chairwoman of the committee, we got loads of work that need to be done soon.

"You look so busy… Maki, it's kinda weird seeing you so immersed at work…"

I gave Yui a flat look. "What, there are times when I'm serious too, you know. Though I'm not a workaholic like our esteemed club president over here."

"Ara? Are you perhaps trying to offend me, Uzumaki-kun?" there she goes, easily biting the bait. "Let me tell your less-than-average brain, Uzumaki-kun, that being productive is a very likable trait."

Psh, yeah right. "True. But when if it's you we're talking about, the word productive can be mistaken to the extreme." I stopped what I was doing. "Don't overwork yourself, you hear me, Yukinoshita?"

"I-I do not need your concern, I know my limits…" a slight shade of red dusts her cheeks. "But… it's appreciated, I guess." Everything above this point is just incoherent murmurings that I paid no mind to.

"Muu… I want Maki to say that to me too…"

If I was paying attention, I might've caught what Yui just said.

The first task is always the busiest, rivaled only by the peak of the event. Right now, all the things that I should be doing could be considered simple, as I'm only required to stamp my approval and review some of the important tidbits like our starting budget, medium of advertisement and the overall layout of the event.

Haruno-san was the one who came up with the festival's layout, right? And the school's been using it even after her graduation? That reassures me even more, knowing that she's capable and all, finding a place for the fan meet shouldn't be a particularly hard job for her. Then again, she is Yukinoshita's sister.

In the middle of our work, well, except for Yui since she's just here drinking tea, the door to the room slides open, revealing the Committee Chairwoman herself.

I looked at her, but she's the one to call out to me first.

"Ah, Uzumaki-kun, there you are. Hiratsuka-sensei told me that I'd find you here." she turns to acknowledge the remaining two people present in the room. "Hello Yui." My pink haired classmate waves back, albeit awkwardly.

"And you too, Yukinoshita-san."

Everybody hear that sound? That's the sound of winter coming in early.

"Sagami-san." Yukinoshita acknowledges her presence. "Congratulations for your position as chairwoman." Despite the obvious hostility that is directed at her by Sagami, Yukinoshita manages to sound and look polite. "Are you here for a request?"

Surprisingly, Sagami shakes her head. "No." she pauses, smiling. "Well, at first, I was gonna come here and request for help with the committee work, but since Uzumaki-kun is **my** vice chairman, I'm confident that I'll be able to do things properly."

I appreciate your flattery, but it won't save you from the amount of workload I'm gonna drop on your head, Sagami. Just you wait, you'll be reciting accounting formulas by the end of the day…

…huh, why are the two of you glaring at her like that, Yukinoshita, Yui? I know she's a sly wench, but I don't think it's good to be fighting so soon.

Aaaand why are you smiling at me like that, Sagami?

Wait, wait, what's with this foreboding ill omen that I'm feeling? I'm a Sage, I'm sensitive to negative intent! And all I'm sensing is negativity here!

"Chairwoman Sagami." Better diffuse the bomb before it's even set up.

"Yes, Uzumaki-kun?" don't smile at me like that.

"Come here, I'll need your eyes on some of these things."

"Ufufu, alright, let's see, let's see…" she stands beside me, leaning forward to the table, shoulder touching my arm.

"This year's budget for the school festival is lesser than the one last year because of funding issues. The school cut down the budget because it needs to save up for repairs on several school facilities, like the pool and field. We should hold a meeting in regards to this. I've consulted the problem with Hiratsuka-sensei earlier and asked her whether or not there's an alternative source of finance for our budget dilemma. She told me that two years ago, they pretty much had the same problem and the committee during that time reached out to certain companies to sponsor the event."

"I see, and then?"

I blinked. Is she even paying attention to what I was saying?

"And theeen… we'll discuss about that in the meeting too, I suppose." Wait, wait, she's supposed to say something chairwoman-like over here, why is she not saying anything?! "Next is this. Take a look."

I showed her the layout and overall blueprint of the school, the locations of each particular areas of the school have been marked by yours truly.

"This is the overall layout of the event, since we're using last year's layout, there's nothing much that needs any changing. But I just want you to see the span of control that we'll have to pay attention to during the festival." I pointed out several areas on the layout. "The courtyard, first to third floors and gymnasium are places that we need pay attention to as those places will be crowded throughout the three days of the festival."

"Uh, huh, then?"

…she's not paying attention now is she?

Haaah… looks like I'll need to be patient.

"I think that's all for today, Sagami-san." I said, rearranging everything tidily. "We'll have to conduct a meeting soon, please be reminded of that."

"Sure!" she chirps. "Ah, want to go grab a bite with me? There's this nice place nearby and I'm sure you'll like it!"

 **SPLASH**

"N-Ne… Yukinon…"

…did I just hear the sound of tea spilling?

"Yes, Yuigahama-san?"

"D-Do you want to check out this one place I found the other day?"

"Hm, it seems interesting, Yuigahama-san. I'd be happy to accompany you."

Wait, wait, the two of you were going to do something suspicious, huh?! And don't look at me as if nothing happened, you guys were staring at me as if I'm sort of puzzle event waiting to be revealed!

I gave Sagami a wry smile, I made sure to look apologetic.

"I'm sorry, Sagami-san, but I'm a bit busy today." I'll be busy with work, the upcoming fan meet and thinking of ways to make your job twice harder than what it will be. "Maybe next time?"

"Sure!" ugh… I don't like her smile… it's making me uneasy. Suddenly, Haruno-san comes to mind.

Aw, fuck, I have to call her Onee-chan too!

"Bye bye, Uzumaki-kun!" just like that, the purple haired chairwoman waltzes off the club room.

I sighed, massaging my forehead intensely.

"Still think that this is the right thing to do, Uzumaki-kun?"

"Yes." I'm set here, nothing's gonna change my mind. "Anyway, I take it that club activities will be halted due to the committee work?" I asked Yukinoshita.

"Yes, indeed. I was just about to say that." Yukinoshita nods. "Due to committee work, club activities will be halted." She says. "But are you sure that you're capable of handling Sagami-san all by yourself? Knowing your previous attempts with our previous clients, you needed help with almost everything."

"Ha ha ha." I laughed humorlessly at Yukinoshita's bite. "I'll handle her, besides, since she made me vice chairman, I'm gonna have to look the part… unfortunately."

"See, see? This is what I meant by you totally looking weird when working, Maki! You always look lazy and all that!"

Why this little…

"Wait, a minute, Uzumaki-kun."

What is it, Yukinoshita? I was just about to pinch the hell of our noisy friend here…

"Have you been speaking to my sister lately?"

…

Whoa, what's with this uncomfortable atmosphere now? Been feeling it a lot recently.

"You mean Haruno-san?" I'll take her flinch as a yes. "Yeah, I asked a favor from her and now I'll have to bear with… never mind. It's better for you not to know. How do you know? She told you?"

"She hinted out a few things during a call two days ago."

I don't want to tell Yukinoshita or Yui anything. It's embarrassing, after all.

"Eehh… what's that, Maki? C'mon, tell us~!"

"No." I'll die from embarrassment.

I saw Yukinoshita sighing, giving me a genuine look of concern. "I just hope that you know what you're doing, Uzumaki-kun… with all the leap of faiths you've been doing lately… especially when dealing with my sister."

"Heh." I gave her a smirk. "I'm related to a bunch of people who're notoriously known for doing major leap of faiths at some point in their life." Just don't expect me to say 'safety and peace, my brother' or something like that, no one does that anymore these days. **(4)**

Unless you're religious, which I'm not.

"Anyway, I'll be heading back now. I wasn't lying when I said that I'm busy." I packed up everything that was with me inside my bag. It's overstocked with school work and committee documents. "Smell you two later." I mock saluted.

"Eew… he said he was gonna smell us later, Yukinon…"

"Hm. As expected, how disgusting and repulsive of you, Uzumaki-kun."

"That's an expression!"

* * *

I could only do so much in one night.

But what I needed to do, I did so in one night.

"Uzumaki… are you okay? You look like a colleague of mine who's just graded papers for all one thousand students combined…"

I came to school in a very unstable state of mind and… eh… less than pleasing state of attire. I didn't have time to comb my hair, didn't take a shower, I have bags underneath my eyes, and I might as well be an Uchiha with how red they are. Right now, I'm halfway through a can of black coffee. My brain and body function is determined by the amounts of caffeine I have in my system, which is nearly in its critical levels. I'm like a jet pilot running on the fumes of his plane's engine. Needless to say, I'm barely keeping myself awake.

"Hiratsuka-sensei…" Good thing I'm not a natural caffeine consumer, otherwise, I would've been grouchier than a stray cat. "Am I talking to you or am I asleep already?"

"You're still awake kid." Thank God, but do you really have to poke my forehead just to prove that I'm awake? "From your… appearance, I can tell that you've been taking committee work seriously. I'm proud of that, Uzumaki."

Nice to see that you're smiling warmly for once, sensei. "No… it's not just committee work I'm piled with." I sighed, taking steady sips from the canned caffeine. "There's also my job as an author and another upcoming event that I have to pay attention to. Good thing is, I don't have to deal with it alone, since people from my publishing company will be the one who do most of the job."

Hiratsuka-sensei gives me several pats on the back. "Good luck, we'll all get experience sleepless nights and unhealthy dose of caffeine consumptions at some point in our life. Just don't get any grey hairs yet, brat, it's still too early for you." that's rich coming from someone who's not even a century younger than me.

"Anyway, you'll be overseeing today's meeting too, right?" I asked, stifling a yawn. "If so, can you tell Sagami-san to-" I yawned, "-proceed with the general progress meeting? I think I'm gonna be late."

"Why? Are you really feeling that bad?"

I shook my head, even though she's technically right. "I won't die, if that's what you're asking… I just need to make a very important phone call." At the same time, I'll be making that Sagami do all the work! Not only will she be constantly pressured with questions by the other committee members, she'll also have to think of ways on how to tackle the problems that might be addressed to her personally!

And they say you can't teach without guiding someone…

"Alright, since I'm feeling that you're honestly working, I'll tell the others." She smiles. "Just don't take too long."

I yawned again. "Yeah, yeah, now go."

"Heh."

She waves and I returned the gesture. The hallway is quiet and devoid of human life, except for me that is. Pulling out my phone, I walked towards the open window and perch my upper body on the window pane. My phone is still trying to connect to the caller, despite it being several seconds already.

" _Hello, hello?"_

Ah, finally, she picks up.

"Hey Haruno-sa—"

" _Ah, ah, ah, Uzumaki-kun, do you remember our condition~?"_

Guh… I hate myself.

"Hello, _Onee-chan_."

" _Kyaa~ yes, what is it, my favorite blonde erotica author? Did you miss me already~?"_

Like hell. "No. And can we please get to serious talk, Haru-"

" _Ah, ah, ah~"_

"…onee-chan…?"

" _Of course! Anything for you~!"_

"Right… listen, how are things on your end?"

" _Hmm hmm, let's see~"_ do women have this habit of stretching out the last syllable of the word they spoke? _"All's a-okay from here, Uzumaki-kun! I found the place and I talked to the owner of the venue. You should thank me, you know, with my great communication skills, I managed to lower the cost for rent to a very incredible price!"_

"Oh yeah?" honestly, I'm not surprised. "Good then, I really appreciate it Haru-I mean… Onee-chan."

" _Hmm, hmm~! You're welcome, Uzumaki-kun. Ah, speaking of which, I take it that you're busy with committee work?"_

"…how did you know that I'm a member of the committee?"

" _I have my sources, Uzumaki-kun, you don't have to worry about that~"_

I have a feeling that this 'source' of her is none other than our mutual Christmas Cake of a teacher. "Yeah, sure, Onee-chan." Wait, I was supposed to hesitate there!"

" _Kyaa~! You're not hesitating to call me Onee-chan anymore! I'm so happy!"_

"No, no, I take back what I said!" well, at least this conversation's keeping me awake. "Anyway, I'll inform my manager about the rent. Please text me the location and other necessary details that I should know about later."

" _Hai, hai~"_

"Good bye."

" _Good bye what, Uzumaki-kun?"_

"…good bye… _Onee-chan_ …"

" _Kya-"_

I hung up immediately.

Dammit… women and their innate slyness…

Now that my conversation with Haruno-san is done, I began to make my way to the conference room. It's not a long walk from here, just a few doors away, in fact.

I slid open the door.

"Sorry, I had to make a very impor…tant… call…"

…

…why is everybody staring at me? Do I look _that_ bad?

I can feel Hiratsuka-sensei's eyes on me. I saw her looking seriously at me for once, the intention clear in her eyes. The meeting started on a very poor direction, and it took me a whole second to realize that completely. Fixing my tie, hair and giving my eyes a good rub, I made my way to my seat, which was next to Sagami herself. As I sit, I can also feel Yukinoshita looking at me, her eyes hard and intense.

"Secretary, sitrep." I immediately said, as if a switch has been flipped at the back of my head.

"Uh, we were just about to discuss the overall progress in advertising, public relations and event coordinating but… the Chairwoman insisted that you be with us for further discussions."

"You're telling me that you haven't talked about anything?"

"U-Um… yes…"

I gave Sagami one of the worst stink eyes I've ever directed at a person.

Don't smile at me like that.

Sighing, I shouldn't have thrown that last drop of coffee… "Alright, now that I'm here, let us begin." I opened my eyes again. "Advertising."

"We're halfway through the pin-up posters." A guy with glasses reports to me. I said to me because he is facing towards and directing his report towards me, not Sagami. "At the rate we're going, we should be done according to schedule and that includes the set up duration."

"Good." I direct my attention to the girl sitting beside me. "Head Chair, you've reviewed our school's website personally, right?"

"Wha? O-Oh, yeah, of course." Sagami… girl… at least look the part… here…

"What do you think about it?"

"Let's see…" we have my laptop turned on nearby and Sagami immediately uses it to open the school's website. "Hm… as I thought, I think a catchy slogan for the festival would better promote our event." She hums, before speaking out in a loud voice. "Will we discuss about slogans?"

"Ah, yes we will, Head Chair." The head of the advertising says again.

"Good." I nodded. "We'll touch that topic later, right now, I suggest those from the advertising to update the school's website with the recent regional award that we've received. It'll do us good for future registration."

Murmurs break out.

"Y-Yes."

I pulled out several sheets of papers from my drawer, my eyes squinting as I skim over the details. "Head Chair, next."

"Right. Liaison Officer, you're next." Sagami calls out, prompting a girl to stand up.

"Ten groups have expressed interest to participate. They are also willing to sponsor our event should we choose to advertise their products."

Sagami hums. "What type of products are we talking about?"

"Canned drinks, Head Chair."

"Canned drinks…" I parroted, testing the words in my mouth. "Head Chair, based on our current budget, we'll really need that sponsor. Not only will it help with our limited budget, but it'll show the public that we're willing to promote local business. What do you say?"

Think Sagami. Think of what you should do. I'm not only going to make your mouth work, I'll make you use your head as well.

"Uh… then I'll leave that to the ones in charge. Ah, even coordinating and advertising, please try to help with the matter."

…no good. It's going to get jam-packed… still, they give her hesitant nods.

"A suggestion."

Yukinoshita?

"Yes, Yukinoshita-san?" Sagami…

"We would not be able to meet up with the deadline should we add more to our schedule. Receiving sponsorship is nice and all, but if we could not maintain relations-"

"I'll do it." I said, cutting Yukinoshita's words off. "I'll deal with our future sponsors, Head Chair, please proceed." I have to deal with the public in the end, huh?

Yukinoshita… I understand what you're doing, but please know the timing.

"Then… next is… stage and staff management." Sagami calls out and two people, a pair of boy and girl, stands.

"We've done a full course check-up and the stage is ready for use." The boy says.

"What about staff management?" I interjected.

"Ah, we have people on standby whenever they're needed." The girl says.

"Great." Sagami concludes. "Please have them on standby and perform check up on the daily."

Seeing the pattern?

Though I'm involving myself, I'm making Sagami make all the decisions. All I have to do is to push her into the direction of considering the choice for decision and then what she makes as her choice will be on her. One might say I'm playing a passive/active role on this committee, being a constant reminder, but that's exactly within my job parameters.

My eyes glance off towards Yukinoshita's direction. She's giving me a look that I couldn't really describe, but I could sense the contained outburst. It's like, she's dying to tell me off or something. I gave Hiratsuka-sensei a look just in case.

She smiles at me. Huh, looks like I'm heading off in the right path.

And the rest of the meeting goes in more or less the same direction.

* * *

"Alright… what the fuck am I looking at here?"

"Hahaha… this is a rather eccentric plot, isn't it?"

Eccentric? This is basically slash fiction made into play! Nothing about this is eccentric!

"Mwahahaha! What do you think, Uzuki-kun, Hayato-kun?"

Ebina Hina… after looking at the work that you've presented to my face, I can safely assume that you're actively writing Fanfictions in your spare time… don't you have better things to do?! Productive things to do, I might add?! **(5)**

Basically, she just fabricated an entire play that involved me and Hayama in a Romeo and Juliet fashion, except minus the whole tragedy and death scenes. I can't believe we agreed to let her do this!

I can't believe _I_ agreed to this!

"Dude," I said, grabbing Hayama's attention, "you really need to get better friends…"

"Ahaha… though Hina's a bit… too much when it comes to her hobbies, she's still a nice person you know, Uzuki-kun."

I sighed. Yeah, yeah. Whatever you say, prince charming… "This is impossible." I lifted up the script, shoving it to glasses girl's face. "I want no part of this."

"B-But… NaruXHaya shipping has been the rage lately! It's a must! In the name of lust!"

Wipe that blood off your face and then we'll talk… but seriously, no. That ship was never built in the first place, you can look at the reviews if you want to.

Ugh… she's just as bad as Zaimokuza when it comes to her hobbies… god my classmates are weird…

Ebina rambles on and on about her fantasy, which was close to becoming reality. I ignored her, of course.

"No, sorry, I'm busy with committee work." Not to mention my personal job. "So I can't do this."

"Hmm…" Hayama hums. "You're right. Having a role will mean you'll have to attend rehearsals and all of that. Not very flexible when you're in the committee."

"Oh right. Darn." Uwaah… she's just as depressed as Zaimokuza when we dissed his work!

"Right? So, it might be good to rethink about the whole cast!" Hayama, there's no appealing to this girl.

"Ah!"

See?

Ebina begins to do some minor editing to the cast and when she's done, I can exactly justify my reason for using the word 'minor'.

"Ta-da! What about this?"

My role as the bottom bitch has been switched to Saika. How dare she…

Of course, I know who's who… because I actually took time analyzing her work, yes, what can I say, I'm an author, so it's second nature to me.

"So I can't get out playing a part, huh?" told'ya Hayama.

"Uooh! That bad boy look is good!"

Apparently, we're not the only ones busy over here. Over there, everyone else is busy.

"Hm… so the only job left is costumes… hm…" Yui, I'm proud to see that you're taking up a rather important role for the class's play.

But let me tell you, biting on that pen won't make you look any smarter.

"About that!" here goes our Play Director, sliding into those spaces. "Saki-chan!"

"E-Eh?"

Whoa, now look who's getting some attention! It's the bug's sister! It's been a long time ever since her last appearance, huh?

What was it… chapter five, I guess?

"Saki-chan, I've noticed that you've modified your school uniform. Those scrunchies and arm bands are handmade, right?"

"T-These?" Kawasaki stutters. Looks like she's not used to getting attention. "I made them by hand, but I use a machine occasionally."

"Then it's decided!" can you please stop shouting like that? I know drama is important, but you don't have to shout… "Saki-chan will be our costume designer!"

"W-Wait! Hey!"

I turn my attention back to the blackboard, wincing at the cast. Ugh…

"Hm… this looks pretty hard…" oh, Saika? "Do you think I'll be good for this role, Naruto?"

…I don't think you're good for the role, Saika… I know you're perfect for it.

…but I can't say that, I'll only sound creepy.

"Totsuka…"

"Hm?" it seems that Hayama and everyone else is waiting for him. "Ah, I'll see you later, Naruto. Bye!"

"Bye." Ah, it's nice to have someone like Saika wave you off. Alright, now, it's time for me to do my job.

Both of them.

* * *

"What's with this crowd…"

The front of the Conference Room is crowded by both normal students and committee members alike. The committee members, those I recognized and have talked with before, look like they're afraid to disturb something. Naturally, after seeing a scene like this, I walked in to see what's really happening.

"I'm sorry. I asked her to come here."

That's the president.

"We didn't have enough group participating, so I thought maybe she could… Haru-san played in a band in her third year here you know, even Hiratsuka-sensei was in it!"

…wait, did she just say, Haru-san?

"I know about it." Yukinoshita directs a rather cold gaze to Shiromeguri-senpai. Only Yukinoshita could do that to someone as bright as Shiromeguri-senpai. "I was there and saw the performance myself."

Haruno-san laughs, tapping Shiromeguri-senpai on the back. "It's okay Meguri, I was only playing around." This time, the big sister places her hands on her younger sister's shoulders. "Come on, can't I, Yukino-chan? I want to do whatever I can for my cute little sister."

Hm… while I'd probably do the same for my cute (un)related little sister, somehow, hearing Haruno-san say those words doesn't seem very convincing.

As expected, Yukinoshita brushes off Haruno-san's hands from her shoulders.

"Do whatever you want. I'm not the one approving applications, anyway."

I saw Haruno-san blink several times. "Hm? Are you not the Head Chair?"

"No." as expected from Yukinoshita, her reply is brief and cold.

"Then who's the Head Chair?"

I was about to make my way out from the crowd, but unfortunately, Shiromeguri-senpai spots me leaving.

"Ah, speaking of which, here's our Vice Chair!"

"Oho? Uzumaki-kun!"

…plz kill me…

Sighing, I muster up every single fiber of courage within my being, and marched on into the room. I try to smile, but what I managed to show is a very crude one. Yukinoshita notices this, if the weird look she's sending is any indication.

I saw Haruno-san smile.

Oh no. She's smiling while looking at me.

You can't make me say it, woman!

"How are you, U-zu-ma-ki-kun?"

…she's going to make me say it.

"I'm fine… Onee-chan."

…

You can picture the shocked expression from everyone who's present.

"I see, I see!" she'd the devil I tell you, the devil! "So you're Vice Chairman, eh, Uzumaki-kun… hm… can't say I expect that, considering how busy you should be with work. After all, you've involved me in it too!"

Whispers and murmurs break out amidst everyone who's watching. Ugh… I don't really mind if she tells anyone about the thing between us, but can't she read the mood right now?

" _Uzumaki-kun?_ " oh boy, here comes Yukinoshita. "Why are you calling Nee-san such things?"

I gave Yukinoshita a very troubled look. "…I'm ashamed to admit it but, I'll be calling her that for the rest of the month."

Please Yukinoshita, can't you sense my suffering?!

Yukinoshita sighs, rubbing her forehead. "Nee-san… Uzumaki-kun… I swear the both of you are just…"

"Ah, sorry, excuse me!"

Our eyes are drawn towards the purple haired individual who's just rushed into the room, looking like she's been doing something in the past few hours. "Sorry I'm late, but the stage and staff management team wanted me to supervise the work in the gym… oh, Uzumaki-kun, you're here already?"

"Head Chair, we're about to start our meeting."

"Ahem."

Ugh… "Aaand… this is Yukinoshita Haruno-san. She's… well, I'm sure you know who she is." I'm not in the mood for introducing the person who made me call her Onee-chan for the rest of the month.

"So you're the Head Chair for the school's festival, huh?" I can see why people would be fooled by her words. If the mask she's using is convincing enough to fool the person she's talking with, then words will only make her seem more believable. Here she is, Yukinoshita Haruno, in action.

"Yes. I am Sagami Minami."

"Uhm… it's good to see the Head Chair supervising her subordinates while they're working." Those glance you're sending me are not subtle, Haruno-san. "By the way~ can I ask you a request?"

"Hm, what is it?"

"I want to participate in the festival too!" she pulls out her best act yet, with the twinkling eyes and pleading look. She's also good at producing crocodile tears too. "But Yukino-chan won't allow me…"

Haruno-san… why did you have to direct the conversation there?

"Heeeh… I think that it's fine for you to join the festival, Yukinoshita Haruno-san." Sagami turns to me. "What do you think, Uzumaki-kun?"

"M-Me?" I suppose my consent does matter, I am Vice Chairman after all.

…how can I say no when she's been helping me?

"Sure, I don't see anything wrong with that." oh I see a lot of things, but I can't say no. I can't.

"Yay! Thank you Uzumaki-kun, Onee-chan's very grateful." As if she's familiar with me, she begins to pat my head.

"Please get your hands off from me Haru-"

"Ah, ah, ah~"

"… _onee-chan._ "

"Ufufufu~!"

Several minutes later, when everyone's here and accounted for, we finally begin our meeting. Today's meeting is finally going to be a productive one since we'll be deciding on a lot of things. Haruno-san is even here, probably to oversee how things will go. She's an alumni, they have all kinds of privileges.

"Sagami-san."

"What is it, Uzumaki-kun?"

The job of the leader is to lead, supervise and make sure that things turn out perfectly as planned. The things that I've been doing, from the very beginning of this committee work, can be considered the job of a leader… except, I'm not the one calling the shots.

What do you call a person who leads the leader?

I'm seeing a pair of extra heads that shouldn't even be here. Two girls, I got the feeling that I've seen them from somewhere before.

Ah, they're Sagami's friends.

"From here on out, our work will get tougher." I'm speaking with her exclusively, mind you, everyone is still preparing their respective quotas before the meeting starts. "I do not advice changing the course of our plan anymore."

As I expected, Sagami frowns. "But it's important for us to have fun ourselves, you know." She argues. "If we don't enjoy what we're doing, then the whole point of this work is pointless!"

Because she raised her voice, we've drawn everyone's attention. Me, personally, I can feel a pair of siblings stare at me with their watchful eyes. But I was not about to pay them any mind, because all of my frustration, contained emotion and annoyance is directed at one single person.

"Sagami-san."

Sagami flinches.

"Y-Yes?"

"We, the committee, work not for fun. We work to make this whole event a success for our classmates. While what you say about enjoying the things we do is true, it is not our top priority. Our main priority here is to make sure that everything is prepared for the festival and for the festival itself to go on smoothly. You, specifically, volunteered to be a member of the committee and then you even volunteered yourself to be this committee's chairman. You swore with me that day that, you promised alongside myself that we'll make this whole thing work out."

Some people are just… sly.

Sagami Minami is sly.

It's obvious, from the way she's been these past few days. Always late on meetings… having her friends inside the meeting room when they're not supposed to… only working when I'm telling her to…

She's going to slack off while the rest of us work our asses off,

And I promised to myself that she'll be the one to work hardest out of all of us combined.

"Or… was that a lie, Sagami-san?"

She can't lie. At least, not openly like this where everyone's staring at her, awaiting her reaction.

I've seen several of the committee members voicing out their disapproval about Sagami's attitude towards her work. They couldn't say anything because she's the Head Chair and, apparently from what I've heard, one of the most popular girls in school.

Pssh, popular…

Above all, it's safe to say that Sagami is concerned about her appearance. So, after having a question like that directed at her, she cannot not answer me.

"O-Of course not!" she denies strongly, her voice several decibels peak. "I know what I'm doing, like you've said, Uzumaki-kun, I volunteered for this position myself. With your help, I promised to make this year's festival to be the best one there is."

What about it, Haruno-san, are you amused now? That's what you're expecting by coming here, right?

I smiled. One of the warmest smiles that I could show.

Though it's fake.

"Good. Let's begin the meeting right now." I pulled out a clear file holder.

"R-Right." Sagami fumbles, before pulling out the same clear file holder as the one I have. "Let's take a look at our timetable for the event…"

The rest of the meeting is, as I have predicted, goes smoothly. We managed to resolve a lot of things, with everyone participating. Yes, even Haruno-san gave us some insights and advices. The two friends that were here with Sagami? They probably got bored and left early, good for us. I've made it clear to these people that Sagami is willing to take her job as Head Chairman seriously. This is going to up her image in their eyes, and as a result, they'll find it more naturally to come to her for help. She is the the head chair, after all.

I'm sitting here, relaxed, while Sagami leads the meeting. I caught Haruno-san giving me a knowing smirk, and I returned hers with one of my own.

The meeting, eventually comes to an end. Sagami concluded today's meeting and allows everyone to leave. She's staring at the pile of papers, files, folders and all sorts of documents stacked on top of her desk; looking at the pile worriedly. Obviously, she has much work to do, that's a given. Now I can't help but feel sorry for her, but that's what she gets for what mocking Yukinoshita.

Pretty much everyone has left the room, those of us who're still here are only here to make final adjustments to our work. I, myself, am packing up my work into my bag. I got my laptop and my share of work gathered and packed for me to work on later.

I suppose, it won't hurt to help her a little bit.

"Sagami-san, here."

I hand her several thin sheets of papers. Sagami looks up at me, fearfully, thinking that it might be more work.

"I've compiled data from previous committee chair's report, you can refer to them if you find your job too hard for you."

"O-Oh… thanks, Uzumaki-kun…" I don't see the point of your face getting red just from receiving a couple of papers from me.

"Good luck, Head Chair."

I walked out of the room and into the halls, I can hear the soft but sharp taps of stiletto heels walking up to me. The scent of lavender and vanilla invades my nostrils, and the voice of an angel whispers into my left lobe,

"What a crafty manipulator you are, Uzumaki-kun."

The speaker picks up her pace, gradually overtaking mine. I saw her giving me a rather flirtatious wink that really goes along with the charismatic smile she's showing me. I stopped on my tracks, intentionally, so that she would be far gone before I make my next step.

"Hmph. Alright then, _Onee-chan_ … you're pot, I'm kettle."

* * *

I never thought that so much could happen in just a single day. Here I am, back in my more than humble abode, with my eyes glued to my laptop screen like a certain grey haired teacher of mine to his books. Well, I'm not the only one here, I have three clones with me doing some work that I've ordered to do.

Me, myself, I'm doing my manuscript work; it's only realistic for me to focus on this myself rather than through the use of a clone because this is my real job. As in a paying job.

As for the rest of my clones, they're also doing the things that I should be doing, not that I'm saying that they're not important, but you get what I mean. One of them is currently having a phone call with Tanaka-san, informing her about the details of the place that Haruno-san had sent to me a few moments ago. Another one is currently immersed in committee work and the last one is helping him doing committee work.

Ah, division of labor, how I love thee. Ah Shadow Clones, what would I be without you?

"Right, right… okay… it's in two weeks' time, right? Okay, I'm busy with school stuffs so I won't be able to come to the company anytime soon… huh… yeah, fine. Right. Bye, Tanaka-san." My clone, who's just finished his conversation with Tanaka-san on the phone, walked to me to hand me my… our phone back. "Here you go boss, phew, we've never worked so hard like this in a very long time."

"Tell me about it…" I rolled my eyes, despite the fact that I'm currently typing away on the keyboard. "So, what did she say?"

I could just dismiss him and let the memory transfer back… but it won't hurt hearing it anyway. "Basically, she's gonna go to the place with her team to reserve the place. Even if Haruno-san managed to get that discount for us, there's really no telling if they did it because it was her who asked or something else."

"Heh. Got a feeling that 'Onee-chan' had to pull a few strings."

All of us snickered as one.

"Anyway, back to work. You go and help those two with committee work, or better, go and make me some coffee."

"But boss, I thought we hate coffee?"

"Well guess what? Sometimes, you can't hate what you need. Now go."

"Sheesh…"

* * *

 **1: A certain unfortunate idiot's catchphrase.**

 **2: A small café near where I'm living have super cringy names for their food, this is a reference to one of them.**

 **3: Christmas Cakes. There's this thing in Japan where cakes bought during Christmas expires after the 25** **th** **of December. So, if we were to follow that logic, a person – especially women in this case – who's not yet married at 25 years old can be considered expired goods. Sad and cruel, I know.**

 **4: A reference to the Assassin's Creed series. Especially the first game. Ah, the good old days…**

 **5: Insert One Direction's Story of My Life song here. plz.**


	14. Raising the Banner

**Don't know when this will be released, because I'm fully aware of how… eh… late I am.**

 **I have a legitimate reason now, though.**

 **One of the blood vessel in my nose is fucked up, I was dumb enough to hit myself on the face when I was exercising (I was stretching, and my hand bounced back at me and hit me right on the nose) and I bled.**

 **A lot.**

 **As in, a lot until I fucking passed out. I was alone in my house when I did this and I was at the veranda, so I passed out out there with no way of contacting my family or anything. When I come to, I limped to my room and called my pa, he picked me up and we went to the hospital asap.**

 **The quack confirmed that I lost a lot of blood to the point where it's expected for me to faint and I had to stay in the hospital for three days. Good thing I recovered easily, as easily it is for me to fuck myself up, and everything's fine now. Oh, I felt sorry for the cleaner we called though; she had to scrub the blood off the floor, railings and walls…**

 **I had to throw out my Pink Floyd T-shirt though. Damn I loved that shirt…**

 **Anyway, I'm back and fine, so here you go, your wheneverly dose of… crappy fiction!**

 **Enjoy.**

* * *

Two days before the School Festival.

…and I'm already worn out.

Believe me when I say I am, but I'm not tired in a sense that I've trekked through four battlefields at once. I'm tired because, well, my mental state is exhausted. No matter how much I've vowed to make Sagami work hardest among all of us, I still have to finish my slice of the cake. Or pie, if you're into that. The committee work itself is not that tiring, it's the work outside of school that siphoned most of my strength.

Most of my effort is exerted into the manuscripts I'm writing and committee work is next to that, not to mention, I'll have to deal with the upcoming fan meeting. Sagami is working hard, no mistakes there, and the effects are starting to show. Lately, based on subtle observations from me, she's been seen less with her friends and more with her committee subordinates instead, she's also seen coming in and out of the faculty room more often. If those are not enough proof, you can clearly see her physical state.

Yeah, in other words, it's safe to say that this is a point in Sagami Minami's life in which she's worked her hardest.

Am I satisfied? Of course.

Am I tired? Definitely.

Do I want a break? **Yes.**

"Uguuuuuh…."

I could not take it anymore. The exhaustion, mental at least, finally has caught up with me. I slumped forward to my desk inside the conference room – we're using it as our office at this point, basically – and did nothing to stop groaning. I suddenly have a lot of respect for Tanaka-san and those people who are doing behind-the-scenes work like this… props to you guys and girls out there…

"Ah, Vice, can you please sign these documents?"

Great.

Lifting my head from my desk, I looked at the not so thin stack of papers that a girl from… eh… advertising has just given me. Sagami should've signed this already, looks like they want my confirmation. I skim-read the papers, glazing over through the words. She's from advertising, so this is probably the agreement form from the meeting with our sponsors yesterday. Thankfully, I didn't have to talk much to involve them in the festival, they simply agreed because it'd do well for their PR situation just like ours.

"Hm… there." I signed the papers next to Sagami's signatures. "Make sure you submit these documents to the faculty room as soon as possible, I don't want any screw ups now that we're on the last stage of preparations."

"Yes!" she salutes me, which is weird, before hurrying out of the room.

I sighed again, this is getting repetitive…

"Good work there, Uzumaki-kun."

Oh ya?

Yukinoshita Yukino herself looks down at me with calm blue eyes and for once, there's actually genuine impression left on her eyes while she's looking at me. "I honestly doubted your competence in being the Vice Chair, but it only comes second to my initial impression of Sagami-san's position."

Snorting, I just have to admire Yukinoshita's humor. She's cruel, ruthless and spits out the truth. Nice. "Ain't that the truth… but it wouldn't hurt you to have at least a little bit more trust in my abilities, can it?"

She shakes her head. "As I've said before, I do not doubt your skills on working alone, it is your team-working skills that I'm kind of concerned with. But it seems that I was proven wrong with… how well things have been going smoothly up to this point."

It's not like I'm putting myself up at a pedestal or anything but I've done a great job if I do say so myself. I've made Sagami work hard and so far, this entire preparation's going smoothly! I know better than to jinx it by saying words like 'nothing could go wrong' or things along those lines… really, the only thing I don't need at this point is for the things that can go well to go wrong.

"Somehow… hearing that from you is quite hypocritical, don't you think?" I countered, with a rather fine grin.

"Hmph. What are you trying to imply, Uzumaki-kun?"

Snorting, I yawned loudly. "Whadda about you, Yukinoshita? How's your team?" though I know that everything's fine… I still asked.

"Me and the people from accounting has been doing superbly, and shame on you for asking."

"Sheesh… no need to be mean… anyway, I know that I won't have to remind you, but I'll do it anyway: don't work too hard. You have shit stamina, right?"

She sneers at me. "I appreciate the concern, Uzumaki-kun, but it is highly unneeded."

"Hmph. You say that now…"

A boy carrying a document file with him interrupts our conversation.

"Vice Chair, the vending machines that our sponsors are sending us have arrived. We need you on the scene to monitor a few things." From his tone, I can sense how important this task is. Now I wouldn't say that Sagami's not doing her job, but this guy is probably aware of how busy the Head Chair is. I mean, if I'm reading our timetable right, she's busy supervising the stage and staff management team in the gymnasium. So, that means I'll have to take care of this one.

Sighing, I picked myself up from my seat, stretching my back and arms for a while. "Alright, I'll be there in a sec." he nods, bows slightly, and then exits the room. I turned to Yukinoshita, giving her one last look. "Take care of things here for me, Yukinoshita, if anyone's looking for me, tell them I'll be back later."

"Alright… _Vice Chair._ "

I can see that sly smile of yours, Yukinoshita, so don't bother trying to look innocent.

Snorting at the display of sarcasm, I exited the room to catch up after the guy from before. They should be downstairs… or outside at the front courtyard.

* * *

"Alright, that's the last one! We're done here boys!"

"Good work everyone! I'll buy us a drink, just sports drink though!" it's the least I could do, I mean, these kids helped with carrying these vending machines which are filled with drinks. They're sweating, gasping for air; and those who aren't are chatting with their friends.

"Thanks Vice! I'll have a pocari!"

"Me too!"

"Me three!"

I glared at them. "We're all having pocari, so don't bother." And they laughed, great. Inserting the exact amount of money into the money slit of one of the vending machines that we've just installed in this part of the hall, I began pressing the same button repeatedly in order to dispense the amount of drinks required. After getting everyone their drinks, and mine too, I immediately chugged mine down. I'm not really tired or anything but I'm parched. My throat's dry for some reason… must be from barking all those orders earlier.

"Alright back to classes all of you, we're done here!" I shouted.

"See ya' Vice!"

Kids… it's surprising to see that so many of them are still pursuing education these days with things like the internet, videogames and social media hindering them… gah, I was just speaking like an old man for a second there, don't mind me, just ignore it.

"Thank you for the hard work."

"Hn, yeah."

Hayama laughs at my lackluster response. "Oi, what's with that unenthusiastic response? We're almost gonna start our School Festival, it won't hurt to be cheerful, right?"

"Try saying that when you have to deal with committee work and an outside job at the same time… then we'll see if being cheerful is as easy as you imply it is." I scoffed. With a flick of my wrist, I managed to score a three pointer with my empty pocari bottle to the nearest trash can. Recycling it, of course. "Kobe~!"

"Oh, nice throw."

Thanks.

"Anyway, Uzuki-kun, if you don't mind me asking, what made you want to take on the place of Vice Chairman?" hm, I can't say that I'm expecting this question from someone like Hayama, because I don't.

But I suppose it won't hurt to tell him.

"I didn't have any plans on becoming one in the first place." I shrugged, my back and shoulders rubbing against the wall I'm leaning on. "Sagami chose me as vice chair so, yeah."

"But you could have easily rejected. I'm sure that Shiromeguri-senpai or anyone else from the year above could've been a better substitute."

Oi, oi, what are you implying there, huh? "…true, but, I figured that I might as well teach Sagami a lesson."

Unsurprisingly, Hayama looks at me with surprise. "A lesson…? As in a punishment?"

I sent him a nasty look. "Not the kind'a punishment where she's gonna break down crying and having her reputation compared to that of a certain President-elect, mind you." **(1)**

If there's one thing I've learned about Hayama Hayato is that he is someone that hates change. Of course, change as in the negative kind of change. The kind of change where one of his classmates will be mocked, bullied and made the object of sick gossips from everyone else around. That's the kind of change, and let's be honest, Hayama's not the only one who hates that kind of change.

Me too.

"If you must know-" though you don't have to, really, "-I'm trying to make Sagami work hard. Let's be honest here, Hayama, no matter how much of a goody two shoes you are, you know what I'm talking about when I say that Sagami Minami's not the type of person who'll do things on her own… at least things that aren't her hobbies or daily activities."

This goes with almost everyone, I suppose. Most of us won't do the things that we don't normally do as easily as we do the things that we normally do. No matter how old you are, what your occupation is, what type of character you are… doing the things that you don't normally do is equivalent to… accepting changes, in a way.

When an IT consultant who's had experience working in major firms in his city has the opportunity to work as… let's say a chef in a five starred hotel somewhere in France, there's no guarantee that he'll accept the job. Yes, I know, though there are many factors that could explain his reason for not accepting the job – things like his salary, family, co-workers maybe even hobbies – there is still hesitation factoring all of the reasons that he'll say in order to decline the offer.

He hesitates because he knows that he'll have to change his schedule, his personal residence too if he's living abroad, lifestyle, friends, co-workers and many more.

So, yes, it's natural for everyone to doubt change.

But in this case, I can assure Hayama that this change I'm bringing about is not the kind of change that'll make him doubt about… shit, anything.

"I see…" judging by the expression you're showing there, I can tell that you're still, somewhat, doubting me. It's fine. "I would've questioned more about it, but knowing how smooth sailing things have been going, I can give you the benefit of a doubt." He smiles.

…or not. Fuck, make up your goddamn mind, Hayama.

"Huh, sure." Fuck, I don't know what to say. "See you later then, need to go back to the committee room. I had Yukinoshita take over things there, and knowing her, she's gonna go and make everyone rely on her… giving her more than what she could take." I sighed. "What the hell is wrong with the Yukinoshita's man…"

"Hm?" ah, shit, Hayama caught my muttering! "The Yukinoshita's… you've met Haruno-san before?"

"Yes. Unfortunately." Yes, my meeting with her was something that I considered to be unfortunate. "The two of you know each other or something?" I figured, since he's asking, he knows about Haruno-san.

"Yeah, you can say that." there he goes again with that 'I'm okay but I'm not okay' smile. Seriously… I know smiling can be positive but too much of a good thing isn't good, you know? "So, how did you two meet?" so that's it? You not gonna tell me about how the two of you knew each other?

"It was complicated." Well, it isn't, but I don't feel like telling him the story of me and Yukinoshita going out to buy a present for Yui. "But long story short, now I owe her one favor. An act that I already have regretted doing."

Hayama laughs. What the hell dude? "She tends to do that to people who owes her a favor… it's surprising considering how selective she can be when it comes to people." Ah, I get that feeling too. She bullies those who she considers interesting, huh? Sucks for her, I've met a lot of people like that in my long life, doesn't mean that I'm used to it though. "Anyway, just a word of advice, if you don't think you can handle her, don't get involved in Haruno-san's business any further than what you already have."

In other words: 'Stay away from her.'

Well, I would have done exactly that without any second thoughts or whatsoever, Hayama Hayato, but the thing is… she made me call her 'Onee-chan~' already, so it's too late for me.

Shrugging my shoulders, I uttered out a light, "Meh." I crossed my arms. "I know when to pull out when I need to, Hayama, but thanks for the warning anyway…" I know that I'll regret what will happen to me when she chooses to use the last favor, but I'll cross that bridge when the time comes. "Anyway, get back to class, I mean, you, not me. I have committee work and you have a very gay drama recital to attend."

Hayama groans. "Please don't remind me…"

I bask in your misfortune, mawahahahaha!

* * *

"Maki~ me and the guys are gonna have lunch in the cafeteria, you wanna come?"

Peering up from the report that I'm currently checking, I gave Yui two blinks before answering. "Sorry Yui, but this is important." And if you mean 'guys' as in Hayama and his clique, then sorry, I have to decline. "…that guy just got scene time earlier…"

"What was that Maki?"

"Nope, nothing."

"Muu… anyway, fine. What about you, Yukinon, you wanna join us?" pfft! Yui, you're asking her? Her? The Ice Queen herself? You're asking the only girl in school who hates pointless banter to join you for lunch with your trite of a group?

"Uzumaki-kun… I have the feeling that you're thinking ill of me." hmm, she's not wrong on that one.

"It's all in your head sweetie. Now shut up and crunch those numbers, Miss number One." We're all doing work here in the conference room. Yui's sudden visit does not hinder our progress or whatsoever, however, it's a little bit distracting considering that all of us haven't eaten lunch ever since recess started. "Ah, but Yui, it'll be great if you could buy something for me."

"Hmm… I see, then what do you want? Ah, do you want anything too, Yukinon?"

"I'll have a yakisoba bread and milk."

"And an onigiri for me."

I snorted. "What are you, casual?"

"What I eat is none of your concern, Uzu-crappy-kun."

Oi, oi, that's too harsh! "As expected… Japanese to the very core, huh?"

Yukinoshita raises an eyebrow. "Ara? And what is it that you are implying? Are you not Japanese, Uzumaki-kun?" whoa, why does she have to feel so good at herself for having a chance to retort at the things I've said? And goddamn she's so smug, I mean look at her!

But I shrugged. "Don't know. I mean, looking at the hair and eyes, I don't look Japanese at all, yeah? Orphan, remember?" hmm… I guess I shouldn't have used the 'orphan' card… it's not like I'm trying to guilt trip her.

"O-Oh." This is my first time seeing Yukinoshita with such a remorseful expression on her face. Yui isn't doing too good either.

"A-Anyway, I'll go get your lunches right now! You guys can pay me back later after school!" Ah, Yui, always know when to read the mood. Okay, maybe not always, but at least she's sensitive when it comes to these things. Giving us one last wave, one that we returned in our own respective way, she exits the room.

The moment Yui's out of the room, I let out one huge sigh. "Oh well, while our puppy go and fetch us our food, let's continue work, shall we?" oh great, more work…

"Hm. A puppy… how fitting."

"I can see you smiling, Yukinoshita."

"Hm. I do not know what you're talking about, Uzumaki-kun."

"You're smiling."

"…"

"Okay, now you're just mocking me."

I ignored the obviously mocking smile that the Ice Queen herself is showing me. It's Yukinoshita, so it's not like I'm worried that the mood in meetings will get compromised by our usual bantering. But since it's Yukinoshita, most of the times, the meetings would end up taking longer than needed. I mean seriously, who cares if we're short a hundred yen, come on? We don't need to extend another… eh… ten to fifteen minutes just because we lost a fucking hundred yen…

Since she's head accountant, she sits next to me in the middle along with Sagami and several other team leader so when she feels the need to insult me, she does so boldly.

Heh.

"I-If I may ask, Uzumaki-kun…"

"Hm? What is it?" mind you, I'm currently writing an e-mail to one of our sponsors detailing about the shipment of vending machines that we just received earlier, so it's quite hard to multi-task while having a not so common conversation with Yukinoshita.

"What is it that you are doing to require the help of my sister?" hm, straight to the point huh? No beating around the bush… how Yukinoshita-like of you, Yukinoshita.

I mean, I understand why she's asking. After that little stunt Haruno-san pulled by doing a fucking RKO for showing up out of nowhere and making me call her 'Onee-chan~' in front of several students, one of them being her own little sister, Yukinoshita is bound to ask several questions.

Of course, just as she is obligated to have her questions answered, I am also obligated to answer her. "She's helping me out with a job. I'm going to hold a fan-meet for my books, you know, the orange one, and I asked her to scout out a place where we could hold the event." I'm being rather dismissive here because I don't want to sound like an obnoxious ponce who has too much shit on his bloody plate. "I reached out to her, if you're wondering."

"…it didn't occur to you that I could have done the same thing for you?"

…I stopped typing. I stared blankly at the quarter written e-mail in front of me. I opened my mouth,

"…aaaand that's the part where my retard-like tendencies usually kick in."

Goddamn it why didn't I just ask Yukinoshita!? She's a Devil Superwoman herself, not to mention that she is THE Yukinoshita! Uggh… curse you brain… why didn't you think of it sooner? At least with Yukinoshita, I wouldn't be calling someone 'Onee-chan~' for the rest of the freaking month!

"…pft! Retard-like tendencies…! I expected no less from you, Uzumaki-kun… pft…!"

"Hey, hey, I'm using the term correctly there." I groaned, the feeling of regret is metaphorically washing my body all over. "Retard as in, delayed, held back…" great, now she's laughing… double great, I just admitted that I have retard-like tendencies… "Oh just stop laughing already!"

"W-Wait, Uzumaki-kun!" you're not going to get away after laughing at the great Uzumaki-sama, Yukinoshita-kun!

Reaching for her ears, I pinched both lobes at the same time, pulling them – but not too hard – just so that I could get my point across. Yukinoshita yelped at the slight pain and I could feel her body trying to retaliate underneath the sudden blitzkrieg I'm delivering to her ears. I'd do this all the time to Komachi when she's being too bratty for my liking… I don't see why I can't use it on Yukinoshita for an entirely different reason.

Her slender hands try to put up resistance, and the keyword here is: try. No matter how much effort she puts into resisting, she can't push me away. See, this is why I'm worried about her overworking. She has the stamina equivalent to that of a dead tuna. **(2)**

"U-Uzumaki-kun, st-stop this!"

"Not until you explain to me what you meant by 'I expected no less from you'. Now fess up!"

"Alright, a-alright! I give up!" her ears are looking pretty red. Seriously, just how fragile is this girl? I didn't even pull that hard…

I let go of her ears, crossing my arms. "Hmph. That'll teach you…"

You know, I really wonder to myself sometimes…

…I'm really such a dumbass aren't I?

I realized that literally everyone in this room, and I mean LITERALLY, is staring at the both of us with a myriad of expressions. There are unfiltered shock, broken disappointment, sheer embarrassment and even plain jealousy.

Ah, I ducked up didn't I?

I would've been embarrassed and shy and all that, blushing like a high school girl, if it weren't for the fact that Yukinoshita's already recomposing herself as if the earlier display of… eh… clubmate-ship never happened in the first place. She's still blushing though, unsurprisingly. So, I decided on one move:

Act like the boss I am.

"Oi, the hell are you all looking at?"

With my yankee-like glare and delinquent-like looks, I managed to diffuse every attention that we're getting. Everyone's immediately back to work, including me.

Now let's see where was I…?

* * *

"A-Ano…! A-Are you Uzumaki Naruto-san the Vice Chairman for the festival committee?"

My finger was literally inches away from pressing a button that will dispense a can of Fanta for me. I looked at my caller, frowning because this person is hindering me from what I'm about to do. No surprise, the person's a girl and judging by her face, you guys won't be seeing her after this chapter onwards.

"Yeah, I'm Naruto." I confirmed. I raised an eyebrow when I saw her sigh. "What's the matter?"

"U-Um, it's just that, your class, 2-F, is looking for you."

Oh ya? My classmates are looking for me? Strange…

"Why are they looking for me?"

She shakes her head. "Anyway, they asked me to come and get you."

I shrugged. "Alright then. Wait a moment." I pressed the button and the machine dispenses my drink. Cold. Picking it up from the storage on the lower section of the vending machine, I then walked up to her. "Lead the way." Not that she has to, I'm just saying it so that I'd look the part.

So we made our way to my classroom. Why would they be looking for me? It's not like that I'm involved in any class-related activities… I have committee work, after all. If this has something to do with that damned drama that that glasses girl is directing, then I'm Audi 5000. The trip to the classroom was quick, in fact, I barely noticed it and we're here already.

The first one that noticed me when I stepped into the classroom is none other than Yui herself. "Ah, there you are Maki!"

"Yui…-" Oh ya? What's this? "-…or should I say, Hirasawa…?" **(3)**

"Moou! What are you talking about Maki? Anyway, come here!" Yui has a guitar strapped to her front. Sighing, I walked up to her and her crew… or should I say, band mates. Uh, let's see… Hayama's on the guitar, that Miura chick is also sitting near them, but she's not holding any instrument, several other guys are with instruments too like the piano and one of them is sitting behind a drum set.

"So, what do you need me for?" I asked. I'm on break, hell, all of us are, and I'd like to spend my break inside the committee room. "And since when did our class have a band?"

Hayama laughs. "It's nothing serious as a band, Uzuki-kun. We're going to perform later in the festival, the head chair's notified about this of course." I nodded. Now I shouldn't worry about having another timetable restructuring in the future. "You see, our bassist hurt his wrist and I think it's quite serious."

The guy sitting behind the drum set has his arms wrapped in bandages. Another person's helping him. If he's the bassist then… well shit, a band without the bass is like a human without a heart. **(4)**

"Hm… I can see that, so? What do you want me to do about that? Find you guys another replacement?" I know I'm a committee member, but I don't deal with this kind of stuff. I saw Yui handing Miura the guitar. Hm, looks like she's no Hirasawa after all… disappointed.

"Well, we were thinking of having you play the bass for us." Miura says, accepting the guitar from Yui.

"…what?" it's almost funny. "You guys want me to play the bass?" crossing my arms, I sent them a rather incredulous look. "Look here, you guys do know that I have committee work, right?"

"But, but!" Yui starts. "Some of those guys in the committee are also joining other stuffs too, you know! Surely, you can skip it at the last hour, right?" ugh… it's bad enough that you're right about the fact that it's alright to skip at the last hour of the festival, since it's when we can relax.

"Hmm… still… I can't replace. And it's not because I can't play, I can."

"Then why?"

"Stage coordinating won't be the only thing I'm occupied with, you know? I'll have to meet the representatives that our sponsors will send to our school in order to see how well our collaboration's doing." I saw the downcast expression on their face. "But if it'll make you guys feel better, I'll ask our music club to see if any of them have a member that they could spare."

"You'll do that? Thank you, Uzuki-kun."

"Yeah, yeah, now is that all?" now that I'm here… might as well just sit back and relax. Since the classroom's being used as a practice room, the tables and chairs are all put aside to allow space in the middle. I called out one of the students inside the room who I'm sure is a part of the committee, I asked him to check in with the music club to see if they have a member to spare.

"Alright, vice, I'll go check." He exits the room.

Hm, it seems that being in a position of power is better than I expected. Mwahaha!

"Ne, ne, Maki!" Yui skips over, gracing me with her bubbly and energetic presence. "Can you really play the bass?"

"I can." I confirmed. "But that doesn't mean that I can help you out with your problem, though."

She shakes her head. "No, no, it's fine. We actually planned to ask the music club for help but since you did that for us, we don't have to. Anyway, can we hear you play?"

You want to hear me play? "You want to hear me play? Why?"

"Just cause! Moou… you're so difficult, Maki, can't you just do things without asking for once?"

"If I do that all the time then who knows what kind of misfortune will fall onto me, you airhead." I flicked her forehead.

"Ow! What was that for?!"

"That's for being stupid duh." I sighed. "Anyway, sure, I'll play." I brought my chair so that I could sit closer to the band members. I say band members because they're, though not officially, the closest thing to a band in this school.

"Here you go." Hayama hands me the bass. "We tuned it earlier, so it should be fine."

I checked the bass to see if it's connected to the AMP. It isn't. Great. After plugging it in, and increasing the volume – not so high though – I gently pluck the G-string and the sound reverberates throughout the room. Wow, we need to work on the sound-proofing here. "Yup, it's fine."

Hm, it's been a long time ever since I've touched an instrument… unless if you count mayonnaise as an instrument, then this is my first time holding and attempting to play one in a long time. **(5)**

My fingers played around with the strings for a little bit more, testing out the tune, finding the appropriate chords and trying them out in combinations to form a tune. Then, I remembered. There's this one song… smiling, I began playing.

 _Bum, bum, badabum, bum, badadum, bum, bum, bum, bum, badabum, bum, bum, bum, bum, badabum._

"…hey… that's… Ben E. King's Stand by Me, right?" Oh, it seems that Hayama knows his music. "You can play that, Uzuki-kun?"

Still playing, I answered him. "It's the first song you'll learn when learning the bass. It's simple." The repetitiveness of the rhythm makes it something that beginner players could follow easily. Not to mention, the song itself is nice.

" _When the night, has come. And the land is dark. And the moon, is the only light we'll see~"_

I'm no singer, but this is the kind of song where the music is more powerful than the lyrics.

" _No I won't, be afraid. No I won't be afraid. Just as long as you stand, stand by me~"_

Two verses. That's all it takes and you'll remember this song like it's the back of your hands.

" _So darlin', darlin' stand by me. Oh, stand by me. Oh stand, stand by me, stand by me~"_

Aaaand stop. Whew, looks like I still got it.

"How's that?"

"That's very good Maki!" Yui enthusiastically claps her hands, her eyes shining brighter than the explosion of a hydrogen bomb warhead during testing. "When did you learn to play? Where did you learn to sing? Can you play other instruments?"

I had to push my pink haired clubmate back because she's acting like a five year old on sugar rush. "Whoa there, chill down." I hold the bass with one hand, but did so firmly so that it wouldn't fall. "And to answer your question: a long time ago, I learn it myself and the guitar, I guess? It's not that different from this anyway."

"Then do you play often?" this time, it's Hayama who asked. "Because when you play, it's as if you're a pro at it." for once, I can sense genuine impression coming out of his mouth. "Why don't you play with us instead?"

"Hmph. Not bad… for a whiskers…" I can just sense the love there, Miura-san…

I shrugged, placing the bass on top of a nearby table. "Sorry, can't do that. As much as I… eh… would like to be relieved from my committee duties earlier than everyone else, it'll be very low of me to ditch the others."

"Pft…! Maki's being considerate of others… it's like seeing red moon!"

"Yeah, screw you too Yui…" I gave her a mean look and she blows raspberries at my direction. Guh, what a kid… "Anyway, I can't and I won't." taking out my phone, I read the clock. "Recess's almost over, we'll be having , right?"

"Yeah." Hayama confirms.

Standing up, I stretched my back. "Then better go prepare." I frowned. "I need to go back to the committee room to gather my stuffs."

Can't leave them lying around unguarded after all.

* * *

It's tomorrow now!

And from the exclamation mark used above, I can confirm the fact that I'm indeed excited for today.

Why? It's because today's the day where shit gets fucking real!

.

.

.

Ah, in case if someone of you didn't get it, I was just being sarcastic.

Anyway, today's a very busy day. The committee is doing final checkups in order to make sure that everything's prepared. We had to oversee and check a lot of fucking things. From the littlest of things too like: the number of chairs in the gym, how much power are we using for pretty much everything and the final list of those who'll use the gym-turned-auditorium for performance.

"Vice chair, we don't have enough chairs in the gym!"

"Get some more from the storage room, ask Iwata-sensei for the keys."

"Ah, Head Chair, here's the list for the performers."

"Uuuh… yeah, thanks… wait a moment, tell stage coordinator to make sure that they have the backstage prepared for tomorrow!"

"Yes!"

Sagami and I haven't left each other's side ever since we arrived at school. The school's dedicating the whole day for the sake of the final preparations, so there're no classes in session, but students are still required to come to school though, we need all the help we could get after all. We've walked through, almost, every hallways and corridors in the school. We've been through the gym, field, front courtyard and classrooms multiple times!

So yeah, we're fucking spent.

Especially Sagami. Looking at her and her current mental and physical state almost made me feel sorry for doing what I've done to her. Almost.

Right now, we're at the third floor, making our way to the roof. Sagami and I are flanked by the committee's treasurer, secretary and Yukinoshita herself. I don't know why an accountant would want to be involved with final preparations, but she insisted and when I said she insisted, she really insisted.

"Uzumaki-kun, we're taking a break after we're done in the roof." Sagami breathes out, the fatigue in her tone completely genuine. "I don't think I can walk anymore…"

I sighed. I can't help but agree. "Sure. We're taking a break after we're done overlooking the banners' placement." They want us to place a huge ass banner saying: 'Soubu High School's School Festival' or something from the school's roof. What the fuck were the faculty members thinking? Asking kids to do that kind of job?

Secretary-chan and Treasurer-kun sigh simultaneously, looks like we're not the only ones tired. Yukinoshita looks tired too, so all the more reason for us to have a break.

We finally reach the roof and there are students already. One of the students, definitely the one in charge with the task of placing the huge ass banner in place, approaches us.

"Ah, vice chair, head chair; we're almost done with the banner but there's a huge problem."

Great, looks like that break will have to wait after all. Sagami sighs and I don't blame her one bit. Looking at the boy, our purple haired head chairman crosses her arms, the arm band pinned around her right bicep wrinkles from the gesture.

"What is it?" she asks, her tone tired.

"You see, when we're about to tie the other end of the banner to the railings, the rope snapped." Looks like he can't catch a break as well. "I blame the idiot who bought cheap ropes instead of the ones that we actually need…" a helpless expression crosses his face. "As a result, the banner's hanging halfway down the school and we can't reach for it from both up here or down there."

"Have you tried using the ladders?" Secretary-chan suggests.

"No, can't do that. Still can't reach it."

"What about from the second floor? Someone can do something from the window, right?" Treasurer-kun adds his own two cents into the bowl.

"Nope, tried that, we can't do that cuz it's too big to fit through the window."

I looked at the source of our problem. There are still students standing at the edge trying to figure out how to work the situation out, but it looks like they still couldn't come up with anything. It's funny because this situation shows that even with the combined effort of several people, a simple problem such as this is still quite tricky to fix.

But, hm… yeah…

"…that should do it…" I muttered.

"Do you have any ideas, Uzumaki-kun?" Yukinoshita asks. Looks like she heard me after all.

I looked around, before settling in to ask. "Do you have extra ropes that I could use? Strong ropes?" I asked.

The guy looks at me, puzzled. "We do. We tried using them in order to catch the banner, but it wouldn't work." He explains, mistaking my idea.

I waved him off. "I don't plan on doing something as difficult as that. Just bring me the rope pronto."

He shrugs, before ordering some of his lackeys to bring me the rope. Moments later, two guys return with thick and approximately ten meter long nylon cord rope.

"Whoa, this is some rope you got here." I mean, this is the kind of rope that you'd get when climbing a mountain. "But this'll do."

"What are you planning to do, Uzumaki-kun?" Sagami asks.

"I'm gonna rappel down the building and bring the banner up here."

"What?!" hey, don't shout goddamnit!

But, yeah I kind of expected this kind of reaction from everyone.

"Uzumaki-kun, are you out of your mind?" Yukinoshita questions me. "That's dangerous." This time, I can't sense any mockery or anything like that.

"Nah, not really if you know what you're doing." And I know what I'm doing.

I secured the rope on the railing as tight as I could, I made sure with several strong pulls. Okay, that's one step down…

"This is too dangerous, Uzumaki-kun." Oh, looks like Sagami agreed with Yukinoshita on something. "What if you fall?"

I sighed. "Trust me, I won't." since I don't have any harness or anything like that, I'll have to improvise. When you think of rappelling down without a harness, you'll probably think about tying a loop around your waist and voila, safety done.

No.

The chance of you getting injured is waaaay higher if you only do that.

Instead, you want to make loops around your legs, making sure that it's articulated properly around your groin area and hips. And that's what I did. Good thing that this is a long ass rope, this much should be enough in order for me to reach the damned banner and climb back up here.

"Alright, here I go." I vaulted over the railings. Looking down, I can see why they can't reach it. The thing's tilted so far, and there's really nothing that could be done other than this in order to fix this problem quickly. I turned towards the guy in charge of doing this. "Oi, make sure to have some of your guys down there. Just in case."

"R-Right!"

Breathing in, I kicked off the roof.

Whoa there, alright, this is fine. Man… I should've borrowed gloves earlier… I'm holding on the rope with both hands, the soles of my shoes are touching school's wall. If I remain like this and walk down slowly, I should be able to grab the edge of the banner with one hand and climb with my other hand.

"Be careful down there Uzumaki-kun!" I'm not sure if that's Yukinoshita or Sagami but don't worry, I have the insurance of immortality. So fuck it if I fall.

But, no, it'll still hurt, so no.

Of course, me doing this is bound to receive people's attention. There are students gathering outside and inside – they're peeking their heads out form the windows – of the school in order to see what's going on. I mean, I can't blame them for doing so, after all, it's not every day that you get to see someone doing what I'm currently doing. Anyway, it's a good thing that I have a strong grip, and not to mention, I'm also using chakra on my feet so, ha!

Still, bringing a huge ass banner like that up with one hand isn't going to be easy, especially if I have to hold the rope with my other hand. I mean, I can use both hands and let chakra do all the walk, but I don't want to be called Spiderman for the rest of my life.

After several faked effort, I managed to grab hold of the edge of the banner.

"Hey, got it!" I shouted, informing the guys on the roof. "I'm coming back up!"

Alright, let's do this.

…eh, on second thought, this is easy after all. I mean, the banner itself isn't as heavy as I thought it'd be. And walking on walls with chakra is like walking on a flat surface anyway, so, looks like I was wrong. Still, I have to make it look like I'm climbing up the rope, so most of my effort goes there. Five minutes later, I'm back at the roof's railing, with one of my hands holding on to the banner.

"Hey, here, hold on to it!" immediately, several guys rush in to grab the banner in my stead. Sighing, I vaulted back the roof, safe.

"T-That was amazing, Uzumaki-kun!"

I frowned while I'm trying to undo the loops I've made to secure the rope on me. "It's nothing to be so amazed about…" I mean, this is perfectly normal. You actually get to see people do what I just did in real life construction.

Well, probably not on Japan, but if you visit several third world countries around the globe, I'm sure you'll see several people doing what I just did.

"Thank you very much vice chair!" the PIC for hanging the banner thanks me, obviously, because I just saved him a lot of time.

"Hn. Just make sure to hang it properly this time."

"Yes!"

I rolled the rope back to its previous shape, tying it before dropping it.

"Now, we can rest."

* * *

"Hey Maki! I heard from everyone that you just roped down the school's roof or something!"

Holy Christ on a bike Yui… "…you nearly made me throw my laptop at you…" I scolded her.

She just barged into the room, unannounced and shouting. I mean, who wouldn't be shocked?

"Yuigahama-san, it's rude to barge into a room with people inside like that." See, even your precious Yukinon agrees with me. And that's saying something. "And yes, Uzumaki-kun did help with fixing the banner earlier."

Yui grabs her chair, dragging it over to my area. Oi, don't disturb me, I'm in the middle of something important here…

"That was really cool Maki! I mean, I didn't get to see you do it myself, but everyone was talking about it! Even the teachers!" it's amazing at how much enthusiasm Yui's projecting from her voice.

And the teachers were talking about it? Damn, I better prepare myself for a trip to the faculty room later… Hiratsuka-sensei's going to give me so much shit for this… but, anyway, enough about me.

"How's our class doing for the festival, Yui?" I asked, directing the conversation elsewhere.

"Everything's going well! The guy that replaced Tejina-kun plays the bass really well, but not as well as you in my opinion." Guh… enough with the compliments already… you're making me feel like a marshmallow inside…

"Ara, Uzumaki-kun plays the bass?" this comes from Yukinoshita. "I never knew that you're musically compatible, Uzumaki-kun."

"Mmhmm, such revelations, much surprise~" I sounded like a broken record just now, flat and mocking. "But I'm sure that I'm not as 'musically compatible' as you are, _Yukinoshita-san_." We're talking about the Devil Superwoman herself, I'm not surprised if she's like the Japanese version of Lindsey Stirling or something. **(6)**

Yukinoshita's expression morphs to that of disgust. "Please refrain from speaking like that ever again whenever you're in my presence, Uzumaki-kun." Hm, you're more of cat person after all, that meme isn't just for you.

"What about you, Yukinoshita, what's your class doing?" I asked.

"An art exhibit." At this point, I'm not even surprised. "We collaborated with a local art exhibition and borrowed copies of the original paintings that they have there, please do visit when you have the time, Uzumaki-kun, I'm sure that a Neanderthal like you have never seen fine art before."

"Oi, oi, that's too far." and I do know fine art, dammit, it's what I wrote! "But sure, why not. We'll visit, right Yui?"

"Of course!" Yui, you don't have to shout whenever you speak. "I don't know a lot about art paintings, though, the only one I know is the Mona Lisa."

The expression that takes over Yukinoshita's face can only be described as sheer disappointment. She lets out a sigh, reminding me of a parent who'd just learn of her daughter's lower than average score from their report card. "Yuigahama-san… looks like we'll have to re-educate you through and through… please make sure that she visits my class at some point during the festival, Uzumaki-kun."

"'kay."

"H-Hey! I'm not… that bad…" no, no, that's not very convincing anymore. "But… I'd like it if the three of us could find some time during the festival in order to spend some time together."

I took a moment to look up from my work, giving Yui a very weird look. "You mean like a date?"

If the both of them were drinking tea, they would have done a spit take already. But they're not drinking tea, so they're safe.

"W-W-W-W-What t-the heck M-Maki!?" The last time I saw something so red, it just happened to be an idiot's face covered in blood because of a stupid nosebleed. But now, it pales in comparison to Yui's face. Poor girl could've been Krakatoa Mountain and erupt at any second. "A-A-A d-d-d-d-d-d-d-date?!"

I looked at her, maintaining the weird look that I'm giving her. "I mean, technically, it is a date, even if there're three of us. A date is some kind of outing, after all." I explained to her logically.

"I-Indeed." Hoooh, look who's no longer covering her face with her book? "But it'd do well for you to use other terms than d-dating." Yeah, whatever you say, Yukinoshita.

I shrugged, paying my work attention once again. "Sure, why not?" Though it's gonna be busy, it shouldn't be that hard to find time in order to catch a little break or two. Though Yukinoshita herself is in the committee, her position won't really involve her actively participating in coordinating and the overseeing of events. And mine and Yui's class won't perform until the last day of the event.

It's a freaking three day event, we'll have a looooot of time to try out pretty much every stall and exhibit that the other class have set up.

Yay.

…I heard that Hiratsuka-sensei's opening a ramen stand, gotta check that one out first!

"…hehehehe…"

"Uwaaah… he's giggling creepily, Yukinon."

"…hello, is this the Department of Defense?"

"HEY!"

* * *

"Komachi! You home yet?!"

"Meow~"

Instead of my (un)related little sister, it was Dog who answered me. I squat down on my heels, hands busy petting the cat. "Who's a good cat, who's a good cat? You are, you are~!"

"Meow…"

"Where's Komachi, Dog?" I picked the feline creature up with both hands, staring deeply into its yellow slitted eyes. "Is she home yet?" I mean, she should be, the door's opened after all and her shoes are here.

"Meow~"

"Hm…" I don't speak cat, but I'll take that as a 'I don't know'. "Right. Maybe she's upstairs in her room." I set Dog back down on the floor, and immediately, he walks away, probably off to find a sleeping spot.

I made my way into the house and since I'm pretty much family, I know this place like the back of my hand. Walking up the stairs, the wooden means of transport creaks underneath my weight and once I'm upstairs, I made my way to Komachi's room. The door to Komachi's room has her name on it, she made them out of sticker cut outs. I knocked three times, not entering just yet.

"Komachi, it's Onii-chan, are you here?"

My reply is delayed.

"Come in Onii-chan…"

I opened the door and I saw a very sickly looking Komachi.

The brightness in her eyes are no longer present, replaced with grim suffering. Her already pale face is paler, her eyes are bloodshot. The room's air condition is turned off, but she's using her sheets as if it's freaking winter outside. Her uniform is scattered on the floor, making a mess of her normally clean room.

Now, after seeing a sight like this, I immediately approached her.

And I did.

"Komachi, are you sick?"

"Uugh…" she groans like a zombie from a B-rated horror flick. "I don't feel good… my nose's stuffed, head's dizzy and I'm cold…" she sniffs, making sounds that further prove her sickness. "Onii-chan… did mom send you here?"

I took a seat on the edge of her bed, shaking my head. "No. I thought that I'd visit and play around with Dog and have dinner here with you… but the door wasn't locked and you weren't answering my calls." Ah, that's right, I called her several times before. "So you're sick after all, huh? Took some meds already?"

She shook her head. Duh, of course she haven't, Naruto, you stupid ponce, she can't move out of her bed!

"Alright, wait here." I stood up. "I'll go get some meds for you."

"They're in the bathroom cabinet."

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, yeah, I know that. Now, just rest."

Exiting Komachi's room, I made my way to the bathroom. It's just a cold, I know that, but seeing Komachi acting all sickly and stuff doesn't sit right with me. It's like seeing an undercooked steak.

Yeah, it's that fucking bad.

A simple cold medicine should do the trick… but she'll have to deal with the cold still. Retrieving the medicine that Komachi needs, I returned to her room quickly.

"Here you go, you can eat the whole pill, right?"

"Muu… I'm not a kid, Onii-chan…"

I chuckled. "Yeah. Here." I gave her the pill. Komachi takes it into her mouth and swallows. Her face contorts into displeasure, definitely from swallowing the medicine. See, told you so. "Alright, now just rest. I'll cook dinner. Will your mom come home tonight?"

"No…" she murmurs weakly.

"Okay. I'll make you some rice gruel."

"No…"

"Hm, why? What's wrong?" sick people tend to not want to eat… from what I've heard.

"Just… stay here with me, Onii-chan…" even in sickness, you're still a cheeky little brat, aren't you? "Ah… that scored a lot of points… hehehe…"

"Heh. Fine." I scooted closer to her, placing a palm on her forehead. "Yup, you're burning. It's probably around… thirty eight or thirty nine Celsius."

It's a fever… hm… I may not be able to heal it, but I should be able to alleviate some of the uncomfortable feeling. Unknown to Komachi, my palm glows a soft minty green hue. The surface of her skin is hot to the touch, but with this, she should feel a little cooler. I can feel her breathing relaxing, good. And after a while, she's asleep.

Slowly taking my hand off the now asleep Komachi, I sighed. I undid several of my shirt's button and with the help of the mirror, I could see it clearly.

"Already, huh?" the seal that's supposed to regulate and expel chakra out of my system is slowly fading. Even though I've had it activated almost every time every day, it's still not enough. There're still some amounts of chakra that I'll need to expel out from my system, but it looks like I'll have to use other means.

Those inks are not cheap, you know…

Buttoning up my shirt again, I sighed. But at least I managed to get some out, so I wouldn't have to worry about accidents happening to me anytime soon. I mean, come on, falling down a flight of stairs is as embarrassing as fainting from blood loss caused by a nosebleed.

Walking out from Komachi's room, I made my way downstairs with on objective in mind. Dinner. I'll be making gruel for Komachi and eh… probably stir fry for myself, I'm feeling lazy here and stir fry's quick and easy; I should be able to return and watch after Komachi.

In fact…

 **"Kage Bunshin."**

Three clones popped into existence.

This is how I plan on running a restaurant, if I was a chef.

"You, you're in charge of the gruel. You, you're going to make the stir fry. And you'll clean up everything after they're done."

My three clones blinked. Until one of them, daringly, the bastard, questions me. "Then what're you going to do, boss?"

I gave him a flat look. "Oh, I don't know, something else other than cooking? Hurr durr."

They're slack jawed.

"Now, get to work."

* * *

"Everything's ready."

It's finally here.

"Wow… look at the crowd… just how many people did the school invite?"

"Probably around… a hundred. Not counting the students."

"Eeeh…"

Eh, Sagami, you're supposed to know this, you knoooow~?

I sighed. Sagami and I are watching the school's front courtyard, which is filled with stands, stalls and all sorts of establishment set up by our students being overrun by customers as if it's free groceries day. They're like ants down there, but fierce. I swore I just saw someone being trampled over by a stampede…

I reached for my comms. The channel is connected to every committee member that's involved with event coordinating. "Uh… disciplinary team, please proceed to the front gates asap, it's like Tokyo down there and we need things under control."

The thing buzzes, and a voice comes out, _"Roger that Vice Chair."_

"Thankies."

It took no more than two minutes until the freaking comms buzzes again. _"Head Chair, Vice Chair, we need the both of you on the first floor… there're several guests that got into a fight over a turn at the vending machine. Some people are trying to diffuse the situation but they demanded the person in charge for the event to come and see them."_

Sagami blinks, me too. "Why not call a teacher?" good suggestion, Sagami.

" _Uuh... by people I mean the teachers… ma'am."_

"Oh."

Well, looks like this is one way to start a school festival…

* * *

 **1: I know that I shouldn't get political especially with a story like this, but, for all the things that he's said, let's just see how Mr. Trump would fare in his position as the new POTUS.**

 **2: Dead fishes don't move. Not to mention, those guys are packed into a tight can, imagine the cramps…**

 **3: Hirasawa Yui. One of the MC's from K-on! A good show. Would've been funny if she's voiced by Touyama Nao, though.**

 **4: I was reading To-Love-Naruko by Rea Kirisa while this chapter was still in development. A really good story. Oh, it's a Oreimo crossover too. That one scene on Chapter 30 really touched me in a way that I'm unable to explain.**

 **5: Mayonnaise is an instrument. Right?**

 **6: Lindsey Stirling. Search on Google. Listen to her playing. And boom: instant good mood.**

 **I've noticed that this chapter might come off as filler-ish to some of you.**

 **Well, guess what, that's because it kind'a is.**

 **I say kind'a because I also want to use this chapter as a chance to try out something different by bringing in a slice of life into this story. Meh, love it, hate it, it is what it is.**


	15. Well that's that

**Ya'll madafaka's pissed at me, huh?**

 **Don't worry, you'll be pissed at me even more after reading this fic.**

 **Just make sure to read the notes down below.**

* * *

 **Day 1 of School Festival**

* * *

" _Morichika Rin-san, Morichika Rin-san, your daughter is waiting for you at the lost children room."_

"Oi, that's my takoyaki you jerk!"

"Mweeh~ git gud scrub!"

"Uwaaa! Uwaaah! Mama! I WANT THAT CANDY!"

…I'm pretty sure that last year's school festival wasn't as crowded as this year's. There are a lot of people in our school… and I'm not joking when I say that there're a lot of people here. The front courtyard is filled to the brim with guests, students and all sorts of food stalls making it a pain to look at much less walk through. Some students had to relocate their stalls to the back, at the fields, just so that they could operate. And don't get me started at the situation inside… wohoho… it's a damn relief that this school's pretty big.

The weather today is, fortunately, likable as it's not showing sign of raining ever since this morning. The festival will end at around five in the afternoon for the day, so it would suck if it were to rain now. Just imagine it: with nowhere else to go, hundreds of people will have to fit into the school… I'm not sure if I even want to be down there anymore right now. But at the very least, the Japanese are well mannered and are completely educated in the arts of 'lining-up-for-their-shit'.

If this was any normal park somewhere out there, you'd hope you could even make them listen to what you're saying.

"Thank you for the hard work."

Turning my head to look backwards, I saw an ever familiar person walking towards me with her smile displayed radiantly. Her pink bun for a hair bobs slightly from her walking motion and to all the guys out there, let me tell you, her hair isn't the only thing that's bobbing around if you naw'm saying?

With my inner thoughts hidden in the inner depths of my mind, what I just thought will only be known to me.

"Sup Yui, you done helping the rest of the class?" I asked her, giving a small wave.

A small breeze passes by, causing me to shiver slightly. Yui, on the other hand, is shivering openly. She shudders, hugging herself for warmth. "M-Maki, h-hey… brr… it's cold outside, why are you here anyways?"

I gave her a weird look. "The same can be said for you. What are you doing here? The rooftop is off limits to student." I flicked the armband wrapped around my right bicep. "But I'm a committee member, so I have privilege to be up here."

"W-Well, they said that you're up here taking a break, so I came up here too…" and what's that plastic you're carrying? "Ah, these? This is lunch!" she sits down on the rooftop floor, making sure that her skirt's fixed properly first before doing so.

Now what?

"Come here Maki!" she gestures for me to come to her. "Let's have lunch together, you haven't eaten yet, right?"

Sighing, I walked up to her. "No, I haven't. I plan on going to the mess hall but it's crowded like damn slaughter house's holding pen down there…"

"Uwaah… what's with that cruel image? Anyway, take a look!" she hands me the plastic bag she's carrying before. I took it and saw what's inside.

Let's see… there's a katsu sandwich, melon bread, yakisoba bread, chocolate bread and- oohohoho!? There's even the premium jelly filled doughnut-oh wait, no, that's just an onigiri… oh well, at least there's milk. **(1)**

"Hmm… I'll take the melon bread and milk."

"Wha-I was going to choose the melon bread!" Yui, no.

"Hah, sucks to be you, you shouldn't have let me choose first." I grabbed my aforementioned foods of choice immediately. "Finders keepers, loosers weepers."

"Muu… f-fine, I'll get the chocolate bread then…"

As the loser reaches into the plastic to grab whatever's left of the spoils that the winner, me, has left; I was already halfway through my melon bread. Man… these things are good. No wonder they always sold out! Add the sweetness of the melon bread with the milk, then you'll have a marriage of flavor that's comparable only to childhood memories.

"How long will your break last, Maki?" After taking bite of her casual chocolate bread, Yui asks me a question.

"As long as I want it to be." She glares at me."…is what I would've liked to say… buuuuut… another ten minutes then I'm needed in the faculty room."

"Hm?" she holds a chunk of bitten off bread in between her lips, before downing it into her system. "Whaf foh?"

"Swallow first, Yui." And she did. "Anyway, it's just for a short meeting. There were several… eh… _accidents_ that happened in the morning and the committee members will be there for a discussion."

"Hm… will Yukinon be there?"

You mean the Devil Superwoman herself? "Of course she'll be there. No, maybe. Maybe she'll be there…" She may be Yukinoshita… but I don't really see what an accountant's got to do in a meeting of this nature…

Yui giggles. Hm? What is it that you find funny about what I just said, woman? "It'll be good if the three of us could spend an entire day during the festival all to ourselves, right? But… you're busy with committee work, Yukinon too and I need to help the class out with what everything…"

I shrugged. Though I have to admit first and foremost, not being pressured and crowded by committee members is a good idea of a break. "Sure, let's do that." I said, holding back on finishing the last piece of my melon bread. "I'll make sure to empty a spot on my schedule for tomorrow, so that the three of us could spend the day together."

"Y-You'll do that?!" whoa there, you'll choke. "Y-You'll really do that?"

"Yeah, why not?" I said, shrugging my shoulders while downing the last piece of the melon bread I've been eating. "This's a festival, it'd be shame to not enjoy it." I paused. "It'll be like trying to go into the movies but… not watching the movies..."

"Oh." Yui's response to that is flat. Hm, I'm getting rusty here. "Anyway, I'll make sure to have some free time tomorrow. Uh… how does lunch time sound? We'll have the rest of the day to ourselves from that point onwards."

I perked up. "Oh, good idea. I'll only be doing major things in the morning tomorrow, so, sure. Make sure you tell that girlfriend of yours to clear her schedule too."

"S-She's not my girlfriend, Maki!"

"Ah, ah. But she is your friend, who is a girl."

See that logic right there? Boom. Flawless.

"T-Then… does that mean… that… yo-you're m-my b-b-boyfriend…?"

"…it is whatever you want it to be, Yui."

"M-Mooou~! You're always so damn cryptic when you're cornered! H-Hey! Maki! Answer me!"

Let's switch scenes right here.

* * *

And now we're here, where the magic happens.

By here, I mean the faculty room.

And by magic, I mean the decision making of all committee related shit that we'll have to deal with for the duration of three whole freaking days.

Yeah, not a very good way of introducing the next scene… especially since this isn't an episode of MTV Cribs.

"…hehehe, MTV Cribs…"

The faculty room, a place where normally only teachers would be in, has been remodeled into a pseudo meeting room capable of fitting in up to twenty people. The place itself is not that big, but it isn't small either. They need to fit desks and, like, ten to thirteen teachers here after all. The desks and other sorts of furniture that might obstruct and take up needless space have been pushed aside, creating a border around the room. Now there are only a handful of desks and chair in the middle to fit all of us here… thankfully, not all of the teachers are here.

Our principal, a man in his middle ages, is standing in front of us in his store-bought suit. The guy looks like your stereotypical hard assed principal who can only remind you for the things you do wrong, but believe me, he's an okay guy. The principal is accompanied by two teachers, one of them being Hiratsuka-sensei herself and the other one our Mathematics teacher, Moriya-sensei. Ah, Moriya-sensei's a guy, if any of you're wondering.

"Alright, now that everyone is here… let's begin this sudden meeting." See? The guy has a sense of humor in him, completely contradicting everyone's initial impression of him.

The principal fixes his glass properly on his nose frame, giving all of the faces present a brief look.

"Earlier today, a fight broke out between a guest and one of our faculty members." His tone is superior, but not demanding. He knows when to make his register acceptable, an uncommon feat considering how stuck up most people could be these days. "And I regret to inform all of you, but the guest threatened to file a lawsuit against our school."

Murmurs break out and I was not surprised.

"Hmm… I knew that this will happen…" Sagami mutters beside me, worriedly.

I snorted. "Of course. We both know that this will happen… I was the one who had to separate the two of them from brawling and you had to deal with the repairs on the lockers and floors with some of the guys…"

"Yeah." Sagami sighs. "But suing us? Were we on the wrong?"

"Let's find out about that…" I raised my hand, grabbing everyone's attention. Even Hiratsuka-sensei's giving me a weird look. "Have we reviewed any CCTV footage of the fight? Sagami-san and I asked around when we were trying to diffuse the situation, but everyone gave us mixed reports."

The principal nods his head at me. "We did and it is exactly the reason why I've brought this up with the rest of you." The man sighs, not even bothering to fix his slightly ajar glasses. "Along with Hiratsuka-sensei and Moriya-sensei, I've reviewed the footage. And it shows one of our faculty members doing the hitting first. Initial observations suggest that the two have been caught in a rather heated argument and this is confirmed when we asked around several students as well as other guests that were present when the incident took place."

He gave me another look, this one of confusion. "You are Uzumaki Naruto-kun, are you not? Were you not in charge of the disciplinary section?"

I gave him a wry look. "There were… final adjustments in the objectives of departments before the festival started. The disciplinary section was split into two, one big team will focus with things outside of the main building and a smaller team will deal with things inside. We-I mean, _I_ did this because of the situation outside earlier this morning. People were trying to get into the school's compound en masse; we had to use more than half of the disciplinary section to bring order outside."

Murmurs break out again.

"Oh, he's good for thinking such things…"

"Yeah, is he the Committee Chairman?"

"No, he's the vice."

"Oh…"

I mean, I had to do it. If I could pop some shadow clones without worrying of my secrets being spilled, I would've done it. Besides, no one could have predicted that one of our teachers would get into a fight with one of the guests. I could use this as a reason, but I don't think that it'll do my position good.

"Hm… is that so… I see." Whew, thank God, looks like the old man accepted my reasoning. "Besides, this is not something that we could have predicted." See? He's a cool guy. "In any case, we are currently attempting to appeal the person. But it won't be that easy." He shakes his head. "The person is an outsider, and the person does not have any real relation with this school."

So an outsider, someone who does not attend or have anyone related attending the school…

A teacher raises his hand. "If I may ask, how did he or she obtain entry into the festival?" ah, good question. Though the festival's open, only invited guests and those with a ticket pass could enter. The only way to obtain a ticket pass is if you have someone enrolling here, working here or if you're personally invited by the school itself.

"The person said that he/she received a second-hand ticket someone who has a relative enrolling our school." It seems that the principal did some thorough questioning. **(2)**

Well, that explains it. All in all, the problem comes down to the fight itself. A person from our school, a faculty member nonetheless, had just gotten into a fight with an outsider, not to mention, he or she's the one who started it. In the end, it has nothing to do with us students.

"In any case, appealing the guest has been our top priority at the moment. I might need to call in a sudden meeting like this in the future, who knows, so please, all of you please maintain the values and rules of this school." I wasn't surprised knowing that this will end in a rather firm note. After all, this is borderline scandalous.

"Dismissed."

* * *

"Uzumaki-kun, how goes the meeting?"

Well whaddaya know, looks like miss Devil Superwoman did not manage to attend the meeting after all.

Rising from my hunched posture to a straight and more appropriate talking posture, I answered her question. "It was fine, I guess." I shrugged uncertainly. "The principal wanted to make us aware of the outcome of the fight that we had earlier this morning. Currently, the school's doing everything it could to appeal to the guest, but the person's threatening to sue the school, so I guess we'll just have to leave it all in the hands of responsible adults."

Hah, what a laugh.

Yukinoshita's eyes glaze over me, before trailing off elsewhere. "I see…" she looks back at me, almost too suddenly. "Well, in that case, you're right; us students have no position in dealing with faculty matters… but I am worried to be honest with you."

"Why's that?"

"Because if this school gets sued, I will have to graduate with a little bit of dirt on my reputation. I don't want to graduate from a school that has the reputation for being violent."

I scoffed after hearing her answer. "Heh, ever the aristocrat aren't you, Yukinoshita?"

She smiles, a smile that I don't particularly like. "You know me so well, Uzumaki-kun."

Yeah but here's the problem: I don't.

Seriously, I have been spending a lot of time with Yukinoshita or just the Service Club in general. It might seem like that I know her, but I actually don't. The same goes for Yui… in fact, Yui's a harder case to crack. In Yukinoshita's case, it's easy because her situation is something that I may have ever dealt with in the past. She's a princess that needs to be rescued from a castle, and I'm not ripping off a certain plumber and his not-so-famous-but-still-famous younger brother here. **(3)**

I've saved a handful of princesses before when I was younger… but that only made the situation slightly bearable.

"What's wrong Uzumaki-kun? Thinking of something pointless again, are we?"

"Since when have I thought of pointless things…?" they concerns you, in case you're wondering.

"Ara? With that kind of listless face, I'm sure everyone would've mistaken you as being brain dead or at least asinine enough to think."

Alright, that's it _princess_ , you're so gonna get it…

"Ah, speaking of which," I switched topics before my aggression and plotting intentions could surface, "has Yui told you about tomorrow's plan?"

Our esteemed club president shakes her head in negative. "Yuigahama-san? No, she has not informed me about anything worth noting. What is it about?" she asks.

"…that dumb girl forgot… anyway, the three of us are going to be spending the entire day together as a club tomorrow. Well, not really an entire day, since I have duties to do in the morning and you're probably going to be busy with whatever accounts that you have to work with…" I muttered the last part. "But in any case, make sure you're free after lunch time, Yui and I will be waiting for you outside."

"Sounds like a good idea." Then, she looks up at me, eyes uncertain. "…yuigahama-san was the one who suggested this?"

Hm? Why is your voice so small?

"Yeah, she did."

And she recomposes herself, ever the Superwoman she is. "Then it's understood. I will make sure that my schedule's clear after lunch. We will have the rest of the day to ourselves, right?"

"Yeah, sure, unless you have other plans in mind…"

"No, no I don't." whoa, what a firm voice there. "I will make sure to have time by lunch tomorrow." She smiles. "Thank Yuigahama-san for me, Uzumaki-kun."

"Hm. Why don't you go and thank her yourself?" I yawned. I was originally planning to catch a short nap in the empty committee office, but the office was not as empty as I thought it would be. Yukinoshita was here first, sitting on her spot all alone.

Now I know why Yui wanted the three of us to go and enjoy the festival… it makes me feel warm inside, to be honest.

"And, by the way, Uzumaki-kun, shouldn't you be somewhere else right now?"

What's with that all-knowing tone in your voice, Yukinoshita-san? "What? On my bed? Yeah, I know right, but there's this thing called school and with it comes this unnecessarily troublesome thing called festival and with it comes this really, really, unnecessary thing called responsibility…"

"No, you slacker." Barks the Devil Superwoman herself. "I'm talking about stage coordinating."

I whined. "But Sagami's there with theeeem… why do I have to go there?"

"Don't whine you adult baby." With both of her hands, Yukinoshita reaches over to grab my left bicep, attempting to pull me off my seat. I said 'attempting' because she has no way of making me stand. "C'mon… just… stand up you… sloth…!"

…I don't want to stand up right now, cuz the way she's struggling is cute and all. Even after a minute full of attempted pulling, Yukinoshita has yielded no success. Now, she's panting and sweating from 'overexertion'. Like hell it is overexertion, she just has shit stamina, that's what.

"Haa… haa… what a… stubborn and… persistent man you are… Uzumaki-kun…" now, now princess, you better catch your breath first.

"Hmph. You can hardly call me a man if I'm not at least one of those two that you've mentioned."

"…I beg to differ…"

"Hm… wait, what did you say?"

"N-Nothing."

My eyes narrowed. "Don't make me pull out my secret Uzumaki Kinjutsu on you, Yukinoshita. A lot of little sisters, _a lot_ I say, have fallen by my secret Uzumaki Kinjutsu…" Komachi, I mean _Komachi_. And the Uzumaki Kinjutsu's just me tickling her sides for five minutes nonstop.

"S-Stop, did you just confess being a siscon, U-Uzumaki-kun?" she takes a step back.

While me? I took a step forward, arms spread out and fingers wiggling.

"W-What are you doing, Uzumaki-kun?

Step forward.

"…uzumaki Kinjutsu…"

Step backward.

"Stop it!"

Forward.

"…"

Backward.

"S-Stop it!"

" **Tickle no Jutsu!"**

"Molester!"

Thankfully, there was no one inside the room.

* * *

 **Day 2 of festival**

* * *

"M-Maki y-you're so fast!"

"U-Uzumaki-kun, I-I know you're a beast… but doing such things…"

What, never seen a guy eat ramen before?

Well, I guess I have to admit, I've been slurping my noodles ever since my first bowl – now I'm at my fourth – so it's understandable. But, I mean, come on, I'm Naruto. My name's literally the most iconic topping on a ramen.

"Puuuah~!" damn that's some good ramen. Yeah, it usually took the fourth or third bowl to convince me. "This is great sensei! You gotta teach me the recipe!"

Hiratsuka-sensei, who's been grinning ear to ear this whole entire time, stands behind the counter. She had set up this stand – with help from those in charge – and is currently manning the ramen booth by herself. She dons a hachimaki wrapped around her forehead, the iconic white lab coat is nowhere near her. Instead, she has the protection of an equally white apron, tied around the shirt and tie she normally wears.

"That's a cook's secret, you brat!" she laughs.

Well, as expected.

"You ain't gonna get it if you're just some random outsider."

"Not even if I'm your student?"

"No." she says. Damn. "And no, just because you ate a lot of my ramen, I'm still not gonna tell you the recipe."

Double damn.

Hm… this is a pretty good broth… I mean, coming from a ramen connoisseur such as myself, broth like this one is what you'd normally expect from a seasoned chef. But Hiratsuka-sensei managed to come up with such a brilliantly strong, rich, yet mellow broth only from her experience with eating ramen… truly, she is a teacher alright!

"Of course, that won't be the case if you were to – let's say – do something like marrying me."

"PFFFFFT!"

"YUKINOSHITA! YUI!" I screamed out in absolute terror. "THE RAMEN?! THE PRECIOUS RAMEN! WHY DID YOU SPIT THEM OUT?!"

The fucking horror!

Yui is coughing up a storm, the same can be said for Yukinoshita, but Yui looks uglier since she was actually about to swallow some noodles before she spits out the soup.

"H-H-Hiratsuka-sensei!" Yui's the first one to recover, surprisingly. Her face's awfully red and there're swirls in her eyes. "W-What the heck was that?!"

Yukinoshita is still coughing. She's leaning on to the table for support.

Me? I'm currently in the middle of a prayer to the ramen Gods for Yukinoshita's and Yui's forgiveness.

"Forgive them for their atrocious deeds for they did not know what they have done…"

Hiratsuka-sensei gives Yui an owlish stare. "Hm? What do you mean, Yuigahama?"

"T-The dealie about Maki having to m-m-marry you or something!?"

Our teacher rolls her eyes, hand on hip while the other one's stirring a pot full of broth. "Isn't that obvious? I'm not about to share my secret recipe to some random fellow, even if said person is my student. He gotta be someone close to me, like, a husband." Then, she looks pissed. "…tch…"

Someone please marry her already!

…on a side note, Yukinoshita's no longer coughing. She's currently cleaning her face with some towels. And I'm just about done with my prayer.

"H-H-Hiratsuka-sensei…" our Ice Queen has finally recovered from her embarrassing accident. She wipes her mouth with the last towel she has at her disposal, giving our teacher a mild glare. "Please don't joke about such things."

Hiratsuka-sensei whines in an unladylike manner. "But it's true!" she even stomps her foot, making her act all the more childish. "I'm not about to let some no named ninny run off with my recipe like that!" she talking in a way that it's actually borderline screaming.

"MAKING RAMEN IS AN ART THAT NONE CAN PERFECT IN A SINGLE LIFETIME!"

Okay, scratch that, _now_ she is screaming.

Sensei scoops out a ladle full of thick, creamy, broth, letting us see it before letting the soup fall back into the pot.

"See that? That was my first step towards perfection."

I nodded, while slurping noodles.

"Ramen is the traditional dish of Japan! It is served everywhere and for everyone! The rich, the poor, the privileged, the unprivileged… our soldiers ate ramen after the war, since it was something they're familiar with after being away from their home land for a very long time… ramen is… ramen is our identity!"

"No it isn't!" Yui retorts.

"Woo hoo! Preach it!"

Somewhere in Chiba, I'm sure that Orimoto sneezed.

"Uzumaki-kun, please stand down."

"Yes ma'am." I was about to take off my undershirt and do a helicopter, but the glare Yukinoshita just sent me promises a lot of pain.

Yukinoshita sends sensei a rather nasty glare, but it's not like it'll affect her. "While I won't deny the importance of this dish during the recession after the war, what you have just said has nothing to do with Uzumaki-kun having to marry you in order to make a bowl of ramen."

"Well, that's just a matter of personal preference, I guess." Sensei says.

"In what way?" Yukinoshita, just sit down and enjoy your damned noodles.

"If he thinks that my ramen is good, it's only natural that he'd want more. So, if we're to follow that logic, he'll have to marry me so that he could eat my cooking every day, twenty-four-seven, three-sixty-five."

"That's…" I paused my eating. "…actually a tempting offer."

"W-W-Wait!" Yui suddenly butts into the conversation. "D-Don't be swayed just like that, Maki! I mean, it's just ramen!"

.

.

.

"What-

-did

-you

 **-SAY?!"**

Hiratsuka-sensei and me are like two gods of war descending upon the poor little soul that is Yuigahama Yui.

"Eeeeeek!"

"It's just ramen you say?!"

"It's not just ramen, Yui!"

We're ganging up on Yui like an unfair wrestling match where Yui's the unfortunate wrestler who has no partner to tap out. And if Yukinoshita's our referee, then she's doing a very bad job at it.

"Ramen is not just ramen!"

"You're not making any sense, Maki!"

"Yuigahama! I'm failing you for my subjects!"

"Uwaaaah! Sensei, you can't do that!"

Yukinoshita, who's observing the scene, sighs.

"We will never visit any ramen shop _ever_ again."

That's one promise she'll keep.

* * *

"Ah, Uzumaki-k~un! Would you like to try our special parfait?"

"Ooh! Naruto-kun, visit our class! We're doing a maid café!"

"Oi, Uzumaki! Join the judo club!"

Okay, that last one is waaay out of place.

Currently, the three of us are walking through the crowded hallway of our school. Even if it's the second day of school, the place is still filled to the brim with people. I'm not surprised, with the quality of the events and… eh… services that our students are providing, our school's currently some sort of tourist hotspot, locally.

"…looks like Maki's quite popular, eh?"

"Hm. It's surprising, considering how ill and devious he is."

"Oi, can the two of you please stop acting as if I'm not here?"

Of course, it's not like we're just walking and chatting here. We visited a lot of food stalls, most of them from Yui's request, and that explains why we're carrying quite a luggage with us. I'm carrying a plastic bag filled with takoyaki, another one filled with yakisoba and the last one carrying gold fish that I won from a scooping game.

I'm a ninja, of course I cheated!

Yui's carrying pretty much the same thing, but with a pink sugar floss on her left hand. The edges of her lips are stained with pink floss, she really is a kid, huh?

Even our princess herself is carrying something with her. She's holding a stick of candied apple. They gave it to her for free. I don't know why, though.

"Ooh, ooh!" You're not a monkey, Yui, so please stop acting like that. "Let's visit your class, Yukinon!"

Yukinoshita immediately responds. "Hm, that would be excellent. What do you say, Uzumaki-kun?"

I shrugged. "Sure, maybe looking at some pictures would give us a great deal of entertainment value while eating."

"It'll also be a good opportunity for me to re-educate that primitive brain of yours, Uzumaki-kun."

We did that joke already, Yukinoshita…

Anyway, we made our way towards Yukinoshita's class room, which is not that far considering that it's on the same floor as the one we're at right now. As expected, there's a line waiting for us when we reach there. Of course, we'll have to wait, but that's not a problem, since we have food with us.

"Wow, it's way more crowded than I expected." I have to agree with Yui on that one. I mean, they're just going to show the replicas of what's already there in the gallery at town, right?

"Meh, I've seen worse." Do you know how many people actually lined up just to get me to sign their copies of Icha Icha? A lot. Makes you wonder why I'm not ditching the upcoming fan meeting… "Can't you pull some strings and let us in early, Yukinoshita?"

"And get accused of having special privileges? No."

"No, you see, we do have special privileges." I said flatly. "I mean, we're students here."

Yukinoshita stops to think, but she does not change her mind. "Would it kill you to wait a little while, Uzumaki-kun? Or are your manners as bad as your eyes?"

"Ooooh… that was very low, Yukinon…"

"…if it weren't for these snacks…" but I repressed my irritation. "Fine, I'll wait."

Then she smiles, this bipolar bitch…

"Looks like we're a step closer on fixing that attitude problem of yours, Uzumaki-kun."

Cheeky little… oh, the line just moved! Naturally, so do us.

Eventually, we managed to get inside. Now I may have lied about me being familiar with modern art, but they've done a great job in re-arranging the classroom. The tables and chairs are nowhere to be seen, presumably stored in the storage room downstairs, and the picture frames are all hanged on the wall in no particular order. It's like a mini-art exhibit. Guests are allowed to take pictures and there are quite a number of them doing so currently, but I don't think that we'll be doing any picture taking of our own.

"Yuigahama-san, Uzumaki-kun, come over here."

It seems that Yukinoshita has advanced further than the both of us. She's gesturing for us to come to her, most probably trying to re-educate Yui.

"This is one of the most recognizable paintings."

Ah, The Starry Night. Yeah, one of the most recognizable paintings out there indeed.

"Eeeh? Really, I thought it's the work of some grade schooler's art project or something… hehehe…"

…apologize now. _Now_.

"…Yuigahama-san… we… we really have a lot to improve." _Daughter, I am disappointed…_ is the kind of look that Yukinoshita's making right now. Wow, I've never seen her that disappointed before, honest. "Uzumaki-kun, do I need to do the same treatment that I'm about to do to Yuigahama-san for you too?"

Eh, that sentence is incredibly long and there are too many 'to's' in it… "Nah. Some of Van Gogh's works make for a good desktop background." They do, look at my laptop for proof. "This one's no different."

"Uuu… even Maki knows about it…"

And _how_ is that a problem?

"Hm, it seems that you're not as hopeless as I thought you are." Oi, I can hear you, you know? "Anyway, let us continue your lesson, Yuigahama-san. Uzumaki-kun, you're free to join us if you want."

"Well, obviously." You made me roll my eyes here, Yukinoshita. "The three of us are gonna be spending the rest of the day all to ourselves anyway, so, of course I'll join you."

And so, the next one hour is spent educating Yui on some of the world's well known paintings. I don't really think that I should go into a great amount of detailing explanation about what we're doing, but to make long story short, Yukinoshita did more than just introducing Yui to art. The damned girl even explained whatever kind of tone, mood and all sorts of interpretation that each painting has. So, yeah, that took about an hour or so to accomplish.

I'm not really a painting kind'a guy, because the only painter I'm familiar with had obsessions with the male genitalia and was prone to piss every single human being within a two meter distance.

Sai, you asshole.

But in any case, after we're done with Yukinoshita's class, we go out to enjoy more what this year's school festival has to offer.

* * *

"Hello, hello, Uzumaki-kun~!"

"Okay, wrong person. Let's go."

"Yes/Yes."

"Uwaaaah~ the three of you are so mean~"

Ugh… UUUUUUUGGGHHHH….

Why does this person have to be here now of all places?

The good mood that I have been compiling and gathering ever since this morning has dropped to rock bottom, just because this woman is within our presence. I'm sure that both Yui and Yukinoshita feel the same way. It's not like I hate her or anything, her personality's just a bit too much for me.

And there's 'Onee-chan' thing that we have going on between us both…

"Nee-san." Even if she's not looking forward meeting her older sister, Yukinoshita still greets her. How Japanese-like of her.

Yui is silent. Ah, yeah, I've been getting the feeling that Yui doesn't get along with Yukinoshita's sister. She's fidgeting, looking at the ground, and avoiding eye contact as much as she can.

But unfortunately, for me, I am the center of Haruno-san's attention. I mean, come on, she's probably thinking that I'm sort of toy that she could just play around with wheneverly, but no, I'm no one's toy.

Uzumaki Naruto is his own man!

"Oh my, oh my~" there it is, that trademark 'Onee-san is amused' smile! "Are the three of you on a festival date?"

I was about to open my mouth, but Yukinoshita beat me to it.

"Yes."

Yui gawks at how flat her club president is when she said that. "Y-Yuki-"

"This is indeed a date. An activity which is basically an outing done by multiple people with different personalities." Oh, you can so feel the ice from that glare. "Is there a problem, Nee-san?"

Nice allusion to what I've said before there… but do you really have to say it that way? Is this the feeling that Yui and Yukinoshita felt when I told them that we're gonna go on a date?

"Oh, no, there's none at all~" your words are dripping with hypocrisy… "Hm… on second thought, there is a problem after all."

Oh yeah?

"I was gonna find Uzumaki-kun and see the art gallery that your class's holding, Yukino-chan, but as it turns out, the three of you are on a date. Boo hoo~ the early bird gets the worm, after all, huh? Or in this case… _early birds_ …?"

Ha ha ha. I would've voiced that dry laugh out if I didn't know decency. Right now, I'm in no position to do anything with Haruno-san, because I promised that I'd dedicate the rest of the day with Yui and Yukinoshita.

"Just consider it as a part of our club's activity if you want." I muttered, rubbing the back of my head with my right hand. Then, I smiled. "But what about you, _Onee-chan_ ~? Here with somebody? Or are you _alone_?"

Somewhere in the school, Hiratsuka-sensei sneezes. I'm sure of it.

I caught the slightest twitch of her lips. I'm sure that Yukinoshita did too.

"Ara, ara, what are you saying, Uzumaki-kun~?" the Ultra Devil Superwoman laughs it off. "I invited some friends over, you silly." Geh… "In fact, I think I'll go and meet them now, seeing as you've already gotten yourself more than enough company for the day!" everything flies off from this woman's head, huh?

"But, remember, Uzumaki-kun."

I raised an eyebrow, then my eyes went wide when she suddenly pull me by the tie, forcing our face merely inches apart from each other.

"Don't cheat."

Her breath fogged up my mind.

"N-Nee-san…"

"Maki…"

This woman…

It seems that she is not showing any signs of letting go. Recomposing myself, I reached for the hand that's holding my tie and pulled it away. I gave Haruno-san a flat stare.

"Cheating?" I murmured. "You're not making any sense…"

Still, she's smiling at me with that devious and mischievous glint on her eyes. "Oh I'm making all sorts of sense, Uzumaki-kun." And she's giggling now. Taking two steps back, she returns the distance that was between us before. However, there's still no telling what she's about to do next.

"Then, bye bye, Uzumaki-kun! Yukino-chan, Gahama-chan too~!"

Easy come easy go. Not in the sense that the original meaning of the idiom would imply but…

…Yukinoshita Haruno seems to be doing that just as well as the meaning of said idiom.

* * *

"Onii-chan, can you pass me the soy sauce?"

"Here."

Thankfully, Komachi's condition seems to be getting better. Thank the Log for modern pharmaceutics…

In any case, I'm very glad that Komachi's no longer sick. Well, she is still sick, but at least it isn't as bad as it was before. At this very moment, we are currently having dinner. Nothing too fancy, just karaage, stir fry veggies and white rice. Of course, I cooked.

"You still have to drink your medicine. Finish those anti-biotics that the doctor gave you."

"Ugh… but those things suck, I swear, they taste worse than those things that you buy on the drugstore down the corner!" she's complaining as she's wetting her rice with soy sauce. "I'd rather drink those sweet, strawberry flavored syrup that mom used to give me when I was younger…"

"You're not a kid anymore." I said to her after scooping up some rice to eat. "The dosage won't be enough."

"Then I'll just hafta drink more!"

"That's counterproductive. You'll only get sick." I said flatly, placing my chopsticks down momentarily to grab my mug of cold oolong tea. "Just know this Komachi, good medicine tastes bad."

My cute (un)related little sister makes a thinking face. God, I wish I could take pictures with my eyes. "Then, following that logic, bad medicine tastes… good…?"

I sipped my tea. "Not necessarily." Placing the mug back on the table, I retrieved my chopsticks. "Just like good medicine, a punch to the face might be the next best thing since sliced bread for some people. Basically, a blessing in disguise. They might not like it, but sometimes, it's actually beneficial."

"Uh… right…" sorry if I confused you there, Komachi. "But, in any case Onii-chan, I'll still go and visit your school for the school festival tomorrow!"

Ah that's right. Since she's sick, her mom wouldn't allow her outside of the house for the past two days. Tomorrow's the last day of the festival, though, so most of the interesting events will happen on that day.

"Ah, I'll be coming with friends though, so you don't have to worry."

"…who are you coming with? How many of them? Are there any guys?"

"Uwaaah, Onii-chan, you're being creepy." She sighs, as if I have just disappointed her in all sorts of manner. "I was gonna introduce some of my friends to you… what will they say when they see this side of you, Onii-chan?"

"It's not like I want to meet your friends-" I paused, thought about it and then rephrased my statement. "-on second thought, I would like it very much if I could talk to your friends. The guys."

"…uwaah… he's going to mess around with the boys instead of the girls…"

"Not in the _way_ you're currently thinking you brat." I almost throw my karaage at her. "But anyway, just make sure that you come in a group. If we do meet, which is quite unlikely because of how busy I'll be tomorrow, you're going to tell me everything that happened at school."

I'm doing this because her mother asked me to, mind you. Same routine for children whose parents aren't often home. They wanna know how their kids're doing at school, but they couldn't find a time to do so. So, Tanaka-san asked me instead.

"Fine, fine." She says this while begrudgingly putting food into her mouth.

"Good."

We continued our supper in silence, preferring food instead of chatting. By the time I was finished with the dishes, it's already eight. Ah, we did start dinner later than usual… and Tanaka-san won't be home today, again. I wiped my hands dry using the towel placed near the kitchen sink and then I made my way to the living room where Komachi's currently lounging off.

"Nya~"

"Oh, Dog." I bent forward, straining my knees a little bit, in order to pick up the white feline. I picked it up and frowned. "Did you gain weight?"

"Nya…~"

"You have, haven't you?" speak to me, cat! "Komachi's been feeding you too much again, huh?"

"Nya~"

I will never understand.

Anyway, I let the kitty down in order to join Komachi. And when I finally got to her, she has her eyes glued to the screen of the television.

"Hahahaha! Man, Hamada-san and Matsumoto-san are so funny!" and now she's laughing by herself. **(4)** But I understand, she's watching manzai after all.

I took the empty spot next to her, leaning my head and back at the cushion. Detecting a presence next to her, Komachi leans her body, her head ajar and touching my right shoulder.

Looks like my cute **(un)** related little sister is also cat-like…

* * *

 **Day 3 of School Festival**

* * *

The last day of the school festival and it's the day where things get the most crowded and busiest.

"Hey, today's quota been reached!"

"Alright, tell them that we're closed! We're done for the year, boys!"

"Yeah!"

So, it's only natural for most of the students to be happy when they reached their target quota.

Sadly, us people in the committee, we are not granted that kind of relief just yet. It's now the middle of the day and we still have a long time before the last event, which is the part where we'll use the gym-turned-auditorium until it's all finished. The final event starts at four, so people will be crowding the place at around three or so. Right now, the committee team is doing everything we can in order things are prepared before people start to gather.

I, along with several… twenty or so students, am currently inside the gym. Chairs are erected as per instructed and the audio system has been set up by some of the stage management team. Of course, the lights are on so that we could see clearly and there are still some backstage work being done, well, backstage.

"Vice, we're done with the lightings, the spot light should be on and we'll have someone working it later!" a random dude who's, undoubtedly, in charge with the lighting informs me of the news.

"A'ight, just make sure that the damn thing doesn't overheat again like the last time you guys try to test it." I said while fixing an earpiece to my left ear. "The light bulbs on those things cost a lot!"

"Right!"

I made my way backstage, where there're about six or so person in here.

"Head Chair, all wirings have been fixed. There shouldn't be any short circuit problems anymore."

"Great, we don't want any accidents happening. Oh and please have a person stand by backstage just in case if something does happen."

"Alright."

Of course, Sagami's here too. When I enter, she finally notices my presence. I frowned a little bit when I saw her face. "Sagami-san, good work. You look tired though, feeling well?"

She closes her eyes, pinching the bridge of her nose as hard as she could. "I'm fine." Murmurs the girl before looking at me. "What about you, Uzumaki-kun, you look like you could use a rest too. Sleepy?"

"I'm not sleepy. I'm just lacking in orexin." I said, waving her sarcastic concern off. "Anyway, sorry to inform you but the teachers are looking for us."

"Us?" she parroted.

Yes, you ninny, us. "Yeah. Let's go, they're probably waiting for us." After announcing that we'll leave, we make our way to the faculty room.

On the way there, Sagami asks me the long awaited and expected question. "Why are they calling for us?"

"Dunno." I shrugged my shoulders. "Probably something to do with that stunt two days ago. And since we're the chairpersons in charge of the committee for the festival, they probably thought that it's best to inform us about things."

"What kind of things?"

"Hm, not sure." Really, at this point, I don't even care about that little incident two days ago. Ugh, it's not even that important. A teacher got involved in something troublesome, though I know that the school has all rights to be concerned about it, I wish that they didn't have to make a big deal out of it.

Unless, of course, I'm reading this wrongly.

Maybe the teacher did not do anything wrong and it was the other guy – girl, whatever – who's actually in the wrong and he or she played the victim. It could be like that, but just like I said before, I don't care.

After eight minutes of walking, we finally arrived in the faculty-turned-meeting room. Gee, I was right about them waiting for us. As soon as Sagami and I stepped into the room, we head towards the two vacant seat placed side by side.

"Now that everyone is here, I would like to yet again apologize for the suddenness of this gathering." The principal is here again. We've been seeing him a lot lately, huh.

And Sagami's already dozing off next to me. Looks like she's tired.

"This is not an official meeting or anything like that, but mere a short announcement." Alright, we get it. So get on with it. "Regarding to the incident that happened two days ago during the start of the school festival, everything have been resolved."

I heard several relieved gasps. Are they that concerned?

"Fortunately, we managed to persuade the person to not file any lawsuit against the school." The man's face turns steel-like for a brief second. "But the same cannot be said for the one responsible…" then the look disappears, as if it was never there. "In any case, please do be careful in how you interact with guests that come from outside the school."

The man's eyes scan over the group of people watching him.

…aaaand they landed on me.

"Everyone, that is all. You may be dismissed. Except for Uzumaki-kun over there."

…fuck.

Did I do something to piss him off? Is this about that time when I rappel down the school to fix that banner? Sagami sends me a look, well, I still have things to do after this, so it's only natural that she reacts like this. I gave her a gesture, cluing her not to worry. After most of the teachers and Sagami have left the room, the principal approaches me.

"I think that this is the first time we have talked like this."

I blinked. Contrary to what one might think, I'm not nervous. I'm just confused, why would he want to talk to me?

"I know that this is rather unexpected so you'll have to forgive me for that, Uzumaki-kun."

"No problem, sir. What is it you want to talk to me about?" I might as well get straight to the point, don't have time to waste after all.

A small and somewhat unusual smile stretches into place, replacing the seriousness that was on his face moments ago. "I would like to thank you personally for bringing those sponsors in order to help make this festival possible. Personally, I'd say that this year's festival has been the best out of all the ones previously."

"Ah, but you shouldn't put all the credits on me. The idea of getting local businesses to sponsor this event was not mine and if it weren't for everyone else in the committee, then it wouldn't have been possible." I'm not being modest here, at least I'm not trying to be, but it's the truth.

I mean, I was a lazy fuck. So lazy that I had to manipulate someone in order to become the Head Chairman for the committee.

"If you say so, Uzumaki-kun." He seems satisfied with my response. "It's best for you to go now, the committee is busy right? Wouldn't want to keep them waiting."

"Right."

* * *

"Uwaah~! Onii-chan!"

"Oh, Komachi?"

Just as I thought… I knew I was going to see her at some point today. And she's alone, weird.

I gave my (un)related little sister one look, a mixture between curiosity and interest. I'm interested as to why she's alone and not with her friends right now.

"You're alone? I thought you have friends with you." I asked, crossing my arms.

Komachi replies with a huge smile, making it all the more hard for me to be strict on her. "Oh we're just about to meet." She says to me in a reassuring manner. "But, I thought that it'd be a good idea to go and visit my precious Onii-chan first! Kya! That gives me a lot of Komachi-point!"

…cheeky little…

"Anyway, what are you up to, Onii-chan? Ha! That armband!" she's pointing at the one wrapped around my bicep. "I can't believe it, you're a committee member? I thought you're always busy with work!"

"I'm still busy with work, you brat." This girl… "I just got this position because the head chairman herself delegated the position to me."

"Heeh… okay then." Still, she's not leaving. It's great and all that we're talking, but Komachi shouldn't keep her friends waiting. "By the way, are you doing something now Onii-chan?"

"I'm on break." I shrugged, answering her. "Was gonna go to the mess to grab a bite, but… Hiratsuka-sensei's ramen stand is a very tempting choice entirely."

Forget tempting, I'm going there.

"Uweeeh…" Komachi makes a face that one would when they chewed on a lemon. "You're always eating that slop, Onii-chan! It ain't healthy." Oh boy, here she goes… "As a caring and thoughtful little sister, I'm concerned with whatever food that you're consuming on the daily." Her face falls flat for a second. "Ah, mom too by the way, since you work for her." Then it returns again into a pure and tantalizing guise.

"…yeah, whatever."

"…eh, you could've given a better reaction than that, Onii-chan."

"Meh."

"Uwaah… anyway, I wasn't kidding." She does her best 'I'm-totes-serious' face at me. "Too much ramen will kill you, Onii-chan. I don't want you to die from something as stupid as ramen overdose or something."

Well, she's not entirely wrong. Ramen is addicting. But still, she's wrong. I can't die, so the joke's on you, imouto.

Chuckling, I ruffled her hair, causing her to yelp like a certain white cat that I call Dog. "Yeah, yeah. You're cute aintcha?"

"Of… course… so stop doing that already!" like the cat she is, Komachi claws my hand, prompting me to retract it back. "So why don't you come with me, Onii-chan, some of my friends are dying to meet you!"

I get to meet Komachi's friends, which is something I don't mind doing. In all seriousness, I'm also interested at what kind of friends have Komachi made in her school.

But… "Sorry sis, I gotta get back to work after lunch." I told her, looking apologetic. "And I still have to do a lot of return trips from here to the gym."

"Ah, the final event will be held there, right?"

"Yeah." I paused. "Will you be there?"

"Yeah, naturally. My friends too."

I nodded. "Good. Make sure that you travel in a group, alright? I told the disciplinary committee to be extra cautious with suspicious people but I still want you guys to be careful, mmkay?"

She rolls her eyes at me, something I found adorable. "Mmkay."

Smiling, I ruffled her hair one last time.

* * *

"So, what am I looking at here?"

My question was directed towards a guy who belongs in the stage coordination team.

"Basically, this is the order of the performance and each of them has their own needs, like, special lightings, audio stuffs and all that jazz." Hm, yeah, so get to the point already. "But the communications channel's set to general and we wouldn't want outside comms to interfere with stage work. We're asking permission to set up a new channel, just for Stage Coordination purposes, is basically what I'm saying here."

Hm, there's this thing called initiative… I mean, this is not autocratic hierarchy here, we are a committee. But, I suppose it's only proper to confirm things before doing them. So I'll give this guy the benefit of a doubt.

"Sure, go ahead. If you need to make last minute decisions like this again, feel free to do so."

"Alright Vice."

Exiting the audio-visual box which is located at the far back end of the gym, I made my way outside. So far, things are going pretty well. Everyone did their job and it's almost seemingly impossible for something to happen.

…fuck me, I just jinxed that didn't I?

In any case, I'm just glad that we're about to be done with this festivities. As much as I find normal classes boring and repetitive, I don't want to be pinned with this kind of responsibility again. Still, being involved in the festival had some merits in it… not sure which though, since I'm pretty sure that I won't be taking this kind of responsibility again next year.

In fact, I don't think I'll be looking forward to next year's school festival at all.

"Ah, Uzumaki-kun!"

My head snapped into attention at the familiar voice calling my name. With a slight glance, I saw Sagami making her way towards me in a sluggish and jittery pace.

"Sagami… I know I've said it before but I'll say it again; you look horrible. Go, rest." Man, who would've thought that she'd put this much effort into her duties. What happened to the 'I'm-too-busy-having-fun-to-do-anything archetype', huh? "We're nearing the end and last I checked, we've done everything we needed to do."

She gives me what I assumed to be a hesitant look. I saw her sigh, emphasizing the fatigue that she's currently experiencing. "I guess you're right, Uzumaki-kun…" then, a hollow laughter escapes her lips. "I'm quite hungry too, haven't eaten anything since lunch."

Ugh… why do I feel incredibly guilty right now?

…grr… screw my Onii-chan instincts… "Say, why don't we grab a bite somewhere? I'm feeling kinda puckish." I suggested, nudging my head as a gesture. "The mess hall's not that crowded anymore since it's this time of the day, most of the food stalls have closed anyway."

"R-Really? You'll eat with me?"

I blinked. Why do you make it sound like it's a weird thing? "Sure, I'll eat with you. C'mon."

"Right!" oho, looks like she's getting her enthusiasm back.

Without further ado, we made our way to the mess hall. As I've predicted, the place is not that crowded anymore. They had special menus during the first two days of the festival and since there's no more, it's not that crowded. Students mostly occupy the seats here, though there are several guests present. Sagami and I lined up on the, thankfully, not-so-busy line and took our time to decide our menu.

I was going to go with ramen but… meh, I guess I'll just have it later for dinner tonight. So the katsudon it is.

"Excuse me, I'll have the katsudon special." I said to the nice lunch lady.

"Ah, Uzumaki." Mori-san smiles at me. "Not ordering ramen today?"

I shrugged. "I was going to go with it before… but I changed my mind."

She laughs. "Right, you can't be eating the same thing over and over again." It took her no more than a few seconds to get my meal on the tray. "Right, here you go."

"Thank you, Mori-san."

"Go and finish them all, young man."

"Yeah."

I waited for Sagami while she waits for her order.

Whoa, waitception…

Anyway, damn me for getting distracted, the both of us found a spot somewhere on the side where it's less occupied. A table that's supposedly large enough to fit four people with appropriate amount of foods on the table is now a little bit more crowded. I looked at what Sagami ordered. Tempura udon, gyoza, miso soup and milk.

"S-Sorry… but I'm really hungry…" what, do girls get embarrassed when they eat a lot of food?

"Nothing's wrong with that." I said to her, lifting up the plastic spoon that was prepared alongside my food. "You're hungry so you're eating a lot, logical."

"…you're so bland, sometimes, Uzumaki-kun…"

Oho? "Well that's new." I remarked, smirking a little bit. "No one's called me bland, ever."

"Well, how should I say this, it's like I know you're trying to be considerate but at the same time… you're not."

I raised an eyebrow at the girl who's just about to munch on her tempura. "And how is that bland?"

She takes her time to swallow the shrimp. "It's because you're hiding what you're trying to say to a person by saying it in that way." She finishes her reasoning with a bowl full of miso soup.

"So what, you'd rather want me not hold back at all?"

"Sure."

"..fine." well, she asked for it. "You're quite dumb aren't you, Sagami?"

Blinking, the purple haired committee chairman nearly dropped her chopsticks. "Heh?"

Sighing, I pinched the bridge of my nose. "Sagami, think. Don't you find yourself… working too hard?"

"Working… too hard?" she repeats after me. "If you mean committee work, I've only been doing chairman related stuffs, right?"

I nodded. "Sure, you did. But… no, let me rephrase my question." I left my spoon inside the bowl, using my hand to rest my chin. "What made you work hard, Sagami?"

…

I'm guessing that she's trying to find the answer to my question. After a few more seconds of silence and blinking, she finally opens her mouth to speak. "Um… I guess… fame?"

…hm, typical.

"Fame, huh?"

She gives me a 'duh' nod. "Yes. I mean, it's nice to have people look up to you." She answers as if I was the one who'd been weird the whole time.

"Hm… fame, huh?" can't say I'm surprised, because I'm not.

"Yes." Then, her face becomes red. "B-But not that entirely, I mean, the festival last year was quite boring, s-so I thought that I could do a better job than the previous committee or something like that…"

I gave her a look of uncertainty. "Something like that, huh…? Well, regardless, it seems that I owe you an apology."

"An apology? Why?"

Picking up my paper napkin, I stood up, wiping my mouth using the napkin before storing it inside my shirt's pocket to throw later. "Let's just say that… not all first impressions are good. And I was wrong."

I smiled. "Anyway, finish your lunch, Head Chair, it's almost time for the final event."

Waving my hand, I left the mess hall.

I stand corrected. Looks like Sagami Minami is not that bad after all…

* * *

"Mic test, test… everyone hear me?"

I got multiple responses from the open channel through my earpiece.

Alright, communications seems fine… let's see, what else… oh yeah, Sagami.

"Sagami, are you ready."

 _"…"_

Hm? "Sagami?"

" _Wha? Oh yeah, um, right. I'm ready."_

"…right." I cleared my throat. "Head Coordinator, take over from here."

" _Roger that Vice."_ A boy's voice bleeds through the comms.

Well, that's about it for me.

What? You expect me to take charge of coordinating the stage? No, we got an entire team dedicated to that. Now, I can sit – well, I'm still standing, but still – back and relax while the whole event unfolds on its own. Sagami, since she's Head Chairman, does not have the luxury, however. She needs to do the opening speech for this final event and then the closing speech that comes after it.

Talk about responsibilities man…

Anywho, I'll just sit back and relax.

* * *

Okay, that line break was completely unnecessary.

But, seriously, do you want me to start narrating every single bit of detail that I saw on the performances? I mean, sure, most of you probably want but I'm not going to waste time doing that. Nu uh.

But I'll keep things short:

They were meh. 'Meh' as in, completely normal. Nothing's out of the ordinary. I heard that Haruno-san's orchestra performance was the highlight yesterday, man, such a waste to miss that. Four groups have performed already and while it's not really categorized or limited to class or anything like that, we set a limit to only six performances to end the festival. Still, even after all those… eh… creative performances from the others, the crowd's still energetic.

 _"Up next, we have a purely-sinful love story brought to stage for the first time."_

Uh, announcer, that's an oxymoron right there. Oh God… don't tell me…

 _"From class 2-F ladies and gentlemen!"_

The crowd goes wild despite not knowing what they're about to see. Hm… on second thought, I guess some of them do know what they're about to see, considering that most of the ones that cheered were in fact girls. But pretty sure I saw some dudes in that bandwagon… but regardless, I'm so going to enjoy this.

Not in that way, mind you, it's just because I get to see Hayama acting out a rotten girl's slash fiction fantasy.

The curtains opened, revealing a rather colorful background. The color blue and black represents the vastness of space, while sparkly-glittery beads are used to represent the uncountable number of stars in the galaxy. There are also props present. From boulders made out of plaster, cardboard trees, an even bigger boulder made out of the very same plaster and… uh… is that supposed to be a cave? Regardless, the setting is clear. They're in another planet.

So the play starts out slow, Saika comes into scene looking dashing in his own rights, dressed in a light green pajama-like jumpsuit that's probably supposed to represent a flight suit of some sort with red cuffs and a yellow scarf wrapped around his neck. Looking closer, it seems that the makeup artist went overboard with her/his job… Saika's pretty much indistinguishable from a girl right now!

Hell, he's glowing yo!

Several cheers erupted from the audience, no doubt for their prince, but the fourth wall prevents them from breaking Saika's concentration. Most of them were girls, but I'm sure that there was at least a guy in there. Anyway, the plot progresses with Saika suddenly encountering this lost and seemingly clueless 'pilot'.

Yes, the bastard's Hayama.

Anyway, it went downhill from that point onwards… at least for us who's not into this shit. But the fangirls man, they're wild.

After each line that Hayama and Saika would exchange, squeals and cheers would erupt from the audience. It's nice and all to see that there are people enjoying the play, but to those who don't, they're bored out of their wits. No, speaking seriously here, I'm trying to understand this whole baloney. But, deliberately speaking, there's no plot progression at all! Ever since the start of this play, it's only been Hayama and Saika exchanging lines that would make a hardcore slash fiction fan girl burst harder than a fucking geyser!

In short, I'm just wasting my time thinking too hard. But I'm still enjoying this, just because I get to see Hayama acting in a slash fiction play.

"Hehehe…hehehe…"

Uwaah… the director herself is here…

"My dreams… two years of hoping have finally come true…"

That long?! You seriously hoped for this to happen?!

Theeeeen she passes out. Great.

Just in time, the play's ending too.

* * *

"Eeeh… looks like Hina's one happy girl today, ahaha…"

Happy? She's in her own metaphorical yaoi heaven right now.

Yui and I are currently together, having a small snack just outside of the gym. They called in a break because after the last performance, Hina's play, they needed to rearrange and turn the stage back to normal again.

"And Maki, I can't believe that you're eating instant ramen right now…" why are you giving me that look for, huh?

I eat whatever I want.

Slurping down noodles to my mouth, I swallowed before retorting. "I can't believe you're eating bread right now." I got nothing against bread, but I'm just sick of it right now. "There're other things on the menu, woman."

"But this bread's new though!"

Let me see… oh, it is new. Hm… it's a… wait, it's a jelly filled doughnut! "Hey, they served those?!"

"Yeah." Yui nods, munching into her doughnuts. "It's all sold out now, though."

Curses! "…ugh…" better luck next time, I guess. "Anyway, how are you, nervous?"

My pink haired clubmate gave me several slow nods. "Yeah… we practiced a lot, but the idea of singing in front of that many people is…"

"Don't worry, if Kanon's able to do it, so can you…" **(5)**

"Who's Kanon?"

"No one." I coughed, changing the topic. "So, what are yo-"

The earpiece that I still have attached to my, obviously, ear, buzzes.

" _Vice Chair… we have a problem."_

…suddenly, I don't feel like eating ramen anymore.

Sighing, I pinched the bridge of my nose. "What is it?"

" _Sagami-san's missing."_

Okay, now it's official.

"Maki… what's wrong?"

I could not suppress the huge sigh that I've released. "Just… committee related stuffs, but it's important." I slurped down the entire content of my ramen cup, literally finishing it in one gulp. "I'll need to go and take care of something, so smell ya later, Yui."

"Ew, again with the smelling, Maki."

"It's an expression you dumb-dumb!"

Saying my goodbyes to Yui, I made my way to the main school building. On the way, I opened up broadcast.

"Guys, speak to me. How's the situation so far?" I asked.

 _"Not good Vice. Sagami-san's not answering our call both in the frequency and her cellphone."_ A girl voice seeps through the earpiece, carrying the same amount of tiredness as I am.

"Great… what about the others? Have anyone seen her?"

This time, another voice speaks out, a boy. _"We asked around… but it seems that no one has seen her ever since they let us out for break. The front courtyard's crowded too, so we're having a hard time looking for her."_

I sighed. Really? I guess I'll have to this the old fashion way after all…

I'm not a sensor. I'm not as good as Iruka-sensei or that Karin girl when it comes to sensing, but Sage Mode remedies that for me pretty easily. Right now, I don't have the time to gather nature energy… or chakra for that matter, so I'll have to put my luck in this one technique.

Wordlessly, I sent pulse of chakra through the ground.

I'm recreating a sonar with my chakra, that's what I'm basically doing here. It will spread and sense all living organism as far as it could. I spent enough time with Sagami, just enough to get me familiar with her presence. Of course, I'm doing this as I'm walking. I have to be careful to not apply too much chakra though, otherwise, it'll have an EMP like effect. So, I began my search for Sagami. Inside the school building, I made my way upstairs, I figured that I'd have more chance finding her if I'm up higher.

Making my way all the way to the second floor, I'm still having no luck.

"…oi."

I didn't know why… I should have missed it or at least ignored it due to how low the volume was… but I stopped dead on my tracks.

Turning my head back, I came face to face with a rather familiar face. The first thing I noticed was her obviously dyed silver-bluish hair and the mean scowl she has on her face. Then, I noticed the mole.

"Ah, Kurosaki."

Hm?

She scowled harder, confusing me. Then, she makes her way towards me.

"It's _Kawasaki_."

Ah, right…

Kawasaki sighs, rubbing the back of her neck with a finger. "Say, when are we gonna start gathering at the gym again? I really want this whole stuff to end, you see-"

"Never mind that!" I interrupted her. Rude, I know. Ah, she's glaring at me. "Have you seen Sagami, Kawasaki?"

Her glare transforms into confusion. Her expression suggests that she's considering my question. I was relieved to see her nod. "Yeah, I saw her. She went upstairs-"

Again, I interrupted her. As in, I'm no longer hearing her words. My feet went to work, moving.

But… might as well thank her.

"Thanks Saki-chan!"

…

"…"

Yeah.

* * *

 **Meanwhile…**

* * *

"Ugh… sensei, what should we do? We've done our performance so what are we here for?" one Miura Yumiko complains. But she has every right to do so. She's tired, sweaty and out of breath. They'd just performed the live music performance and are looking forward to lay down their instruments to rest.

"We're having… technical difficulties, Miura." The ever so mature and responsible Hiratsuka-sensei says to the grumbling girl. "Sagami is missing and we're having everyone looking for her at the moment as we speak." Now that grabbed everyone's attention.

"Sensei." A new, cool and level headed voice enters the conversation like a knife in the dark. "We still have no luck." The visage of Hiratsuka Shizuka and Miura Yumiko are reflected upon her cold blue orbs. "It seems that we'll need to buy some time." However, unlike her usual stoic and elusive demeanor, she has a knowing smile on her face.

Hiratsuka stares at the black haired beauty in front of her, blinking a few times. Then, she too smiles. "Ah… you can always count on him at times like this, huh?"

It's as if the both of them are communicating with their eyes. Miura looks back and forth between the both of them, completely lost.

"Sensei!" another voice joins the conversation, this time, it's a boy. And that boy is none other Hayama Hayato himself. "What's the hold up?"

"It's nothing. We have this covered." Hayama blinks owlishly. Weren't they discussing something serious a moment ago? "Anyway, Hayama, you don't mind us borrowing the instruments, right? We'll need to buy a certain someone some time."

"Oh, another performance?" the teacher nods. Hayama then asks, "Who'll play?"

"I'm hoping that Miura over there will play with us." The teacher says, gesturing the girl. "Yukinoshita, Yuigahama."

The two girls perk up at being mentioned.

"Rock with me, will you?"

Yukinoshita says nothing. Instead, she steps forward, forces the guitar off of Hayama's body, and adjusts the slings to suit her. She ties her hair to a ponytail, rolling up the sleeves of her blazer. "Say no more, sensei."

Yui, after seeing her club president take up arms to join the fight, steps forward too. "I'll try my best!"

Miura, now that everyone's determined to play again, can only sigh. "Haaah… sure… what'll we be playing?"

Hiratsuka-sensei takes a moment to think, then, a light bulb went off on her head.

"I got the perfect song."

Yui blinks.

"Why are you looking at me like that, sensei?"

Shizuka grins.

* * *

"That girl… no wonder I can't detect her… she's out of range this whole time!"

The fucking roof! God, how can I be so dumb to not realize that?

Rule of Cliché, if it could happen, then it will happen in the most cliché way you could possible imagine.

I'm on the last flight of stairs towards the roof.

Now, I'm here.

"…uzumaki-kun?"

Now don't give me that 'what are you doing here' kind of face, young lady. "Sagami… what are you doing here? Everyone's waiting for you…"

I was expecting some sort of crappy reason like being tired or something like that, but I was proven wrong. Sagami instead smiled. It's weak, way different than the manipulative and arrogant ones that I'm familiar with. She turns her body towards me, looking at me fully.

 _Ima anata no koe ga kikoeru_

 _"Koko ni oide" to_

 _Samishisa ni makesouna watashi ni_

 _Ima anata no sugata ga mieru_

 _Aruite kuru_

 _Me wo tojite matte iru watashi ni_

 _Yukinoshita was on the guitar, Miura's on the bass, Hiratsuka-sensei's on the drums, Meguri-senpai's on the piano and Yui's singing the song. The song was slow, paced but steady. Yui's voice blends into the music perfectly, seemingly to have brought out the real feelings that the song is supposed to carry._

"Say, Uzumaki-kun… when you asked me why I'm doing all of this… I said that I'm doing this for fame, right?"

…"…yeah, you did." she did.

Again, what's with that smile on your face, Sagami? "…you know, I was wrong. I did not become Head Chairman just because I want to be famous."

…what… are you trying to say, here?

 _Kinou made namida de kumotteta_

 _Kokora wa ima..._

 _Yui takes a deep breath, eyes closed, preparing herself for the chorus._

"I… I… I also did this for you, Uzumaki-kun!"

…

…wha?

 _Oboete imasu ka me to me ga atta toki wo_

 _Oboete imasu ka te to te ga fureatta toki_

 _Sore wa hajimete no ai no tabidachi deshita_

 _I LOVE YOU SO!_

 _Cheers erupted as Yui finishes the first half of the song. She smiles at the amount of praises and cheers they are receiving. It's definitely louder than their previous performance. Who would've thought that she'd like this song, especially since it's a last minute thing. Thankfully, she's good at memorizing song lyrics, so this one's a piece of cake. Still… why is her singing this song seems natural?_ _ **(6)**_

…what… what is this chick talking about?

And are those tears running down her cheeks?! Why is she crying?!

"Uzumaki-no…" she takes in a deep breath. "Naruto-kun…!"

I… can't prevent the inevitable.

"I lov-!"

…that's it!

I jumped forward, shocking her.

"The wind's nice and all but they really need us down there! I mean, I'm not even sure if they're doing anything down there! So let's just get down there, end this whole thing and then we'll talk again, mmkay?!"

"W-Wait, stop-listen to me!"

"No I'm not listening to you!"

"Uzu-Naruto-kun! You're being too rough!"

"Shut up!" I'll show you rough!

Suddenly, God gave me the finger.

"Hey guys, we heard screami-"

"Ah."

"Ah…"

…now imagine the worst misunderstandings that could happen in your typical romcom style anime. Where the protagonist's trying to do something completely innocent but someone steps in and the scene looks completely different than what it really is.

Yeah… that's what you're seeing right now.

The sound of something being dropped echoed the empty rooftop. Hayama's eyes are wide and the two girls who are with him, whom I assume to be Sagami's friends, are staring at me with their mouths open wide.

I blinked. I'm pretty sure Sagami did too.

"No, wait, this isn't-"

…but everyone's guilty until proven innocent.

"Kyaaa!"

"Uzuki-kun, you little-!"

I could have easily dodged the kick that Hayama sent me… but with the way Sagami and I were positioned… I was forced to take the hit.

Oh, it didn't hurt, by the way.

* * *

"I'm very sorry Uzumaki-kun!"

Finally, you got my name right…

It may not hurt… but there's slight swelling around my left eye. I'm holding on the an ice pack, to which I'm applying to the sore spot, and Hayama's on the ground in front of me, prostrating like a person on Azan prayer. Hiratsuka-sensei's trying, keyword: try, to contain her laughter. Yukinoshita's giving Hayama a rather mean look for some reason and Yui's just arrived after being sent to retrieve a towel from me.

"A-Are you okay, Maki… it's swelling real bad…"

I grabbed the towel from Yui, using it to hold the ice pack. I sighed, before answering. "I'm fine. Just because it's swelling doesn't mean it's painful."

"Bwahahaha! I-I can't believe something like that happened to you Uzumaki! Bwahahahaha! That's so rich!"

"SHUT UP! IT'S YOUR FAULT FOR NOT LOCKING THE ROOFTOP YOU HAG!"

She's too far gone in laughter to notice my insult.

Haah… "Geez…" my eyes, or should I say eye since one of them's currently unusable, turned to Hayama. "Oi, you don't have to prostate yourself like that. Get up, you're embarrassing us." Well, mostly me.

Hayama looks up. Uwaah… that pitifully sorry expression doesn't suit you one bit, you trite. "N-No… it was clearly my mistake… I-I acted without thinking-"

"Indeed you did." this is one of the reason why I'm not giving Hayama any shit for kicking me on the face.

Because Yukinoshita will give him double the amount.

"You acted like a delinquent, Hayama-kun. Your irresponsible actions has caused the injury of another student and even if said student is that thing-"

"Oi!"

"-over there, such actions will definitely get you in serious trouble." Ugh… even in such a state, she's still merciless…

Damn Devil Superwoman…

Today's one hell of a day… no, include the past two days to that as well. This year's school festival has been one hell of an experience for me… I won't even bother listing out the details, since you all should be more than aware of the things that I've went through all this time and also, too tired to do that. I became the Vice Chairman for this festival, worked my ass off, got mistaken as a molester and then a black eye as a result of the former.

Ah…

What a time to be alive.

"Uzumaki-kun…" Yukinoshita pulls me to the side, while the others are doing their own things. "Are you really okay? What really happened before?"

I grunted out. Not really in the mood now, princess. "I was trying to convince Sagami to get down here and do her job… but Hayama gave me black eye in return."

"I said I was sorry!"

"Suck it up boyo!"

…tch. "Anyway, Yukinoshita," I gave my club president a look. "I'm tired, so I won't be joining any after-festival related events. And tomorrow's a holiday. I plan to sleep the entire day tomorrow, so, can you please tell your sister to not give me any shit related to anything?"

I would've been more polite… but fuck it, not in the mood.

She blinks. "You're still working with my sister?"

"Until next week."

"…I see." No, you're pissed, what did I do now? "In any case, I'll try to make sure that Nee-san doesn't bother you from your rest. But please, do try to be careful, Uzumaki-kun."

"…yeah." I sighed.

The festival's ended.

Yaaay…

Second year of high school is… not as dull as I thought it'd be.

My first year was exactly just that, dull. But this year's proved to be something different.

Sure, there were unfortunate events, but every cloud has silver linings. Whether it's being forced to join a very unordinary club, having to deal with a very unlikable Ice Queen, endure the hazardous cooking of a certain airheaded bombshell, put up with a very unreasonable homeroom teacher, getting to know the school's plastic man and his posse of peeps and meeting an old love…

I'm glad that I could enjoy those silver linings.

Hm, I wonder…

What'll happen next?

* * *

 **1: There's a Pokemon English dub where Brock called a bunch of onigiri as 'Jelly filled doughnuts'. Damn ignorant Gaijins…**

 **2: Gender neutral pronouns are hard… no wonder people are trying to be both these days.**

 **3: You know, that Italian plumber employed by the Japanese and sent out to entertain Americans. No? Well, then, Ezio Auditore's uncle.**

 **4: A famous Japanese manzai duo that goes by the name of Downtown. Check them up.**

 **5: Nakagawa Kanon from The World God Only Knows shares the same VA as Yui.**

 **6: In an Album CD which features characters from TWGOK, Yui's VA, Touyama Nao, sings this song. Oh, it's originally from Macross SDF. I like Frontier better but… to each their own.**

 **Finally it's done.**

 **Now don't worry, it ain't the end. No. I love you guys too much to end it here. What I'll be doing, instead, is to put this story on hiatus until I could think of what to write for the next season.**

…

… **now before you fist my ass, put down those gloves, thank you, let me just defend myself here:**

 **Simply put, I'm a lazy fuck. Yeah. That's my statement of defense.**

 **You can proceed, your honor.**

 **In all seriousness, I'm just glad that I get to cover up season one of Oregairu. Season two will feature more characters, duh, and also more references. Now I'm fully aware that I've been running thin on the dank memes, but the internet's full of new one and with time, more will rise. So, don't worry. I have a huge pond to fish in.**

 **The next two or three or even one chapter or so will be Omake's or just extra. I'm not going to write anything else about it, but information will come along the chapters that they will be with.**


	16. Daily musing

**So as I've said before, there will be Omake chapters after the end of season one. There will only be 3 or so chapters, then it's back on hiatus until I can adjust writing back into my life. I'm sorry if some of you are disheartened about this, but real life called and it wants attention. In any case, please just enjoy whatever I'm bringing up to the table.**

 **Thank you.**

* * *

" _Oi brat, don't be late later, okay?"_

…I can't believe this woman…

"…yeah, yeah."

It's six in the morning and that is the first thing she says? I mean, it's bad enough that she called me at a time when only weird people wake up, but she's reminding me of this afternoon's fan-meet too?

Today's a bad day; it's official.

Sighing, I threw my phone back on my nightstand, returning my face where it belonged five seconds earlier; the pillow. Man… I don't feel like waking up today… much less going out. Sleep is all I wanna do today, but unfortunately, I can't. Sending a clone to do my bidding won't work… knowing my retard-like tendencies, I might just get hit by another automobile again or something.

Regardless of my unwillingness to exit my home, I have to get up and do exactly that. But that does not mean that I have to go out and leave for town right now, nope, I can still get several long minutes of shut eye.

…

…

…

…though it might not seem like it, but twenty minutes have passed. Yes, I know, thank God of ellipses. Right now, I'm in my living/dining/kitchen room enjoying a plate of pasta. I'm not a pasta fan, but it's the only thing I have in the fridge. The pasta is leftover from that one time I tried to make ramen from pasta noodles, the pasta meat sauce is also leftover from that one time I tried making gyoza dumplings instead of using your traditional dumpling filling. Combine those two and boom; you'll have this for breakfast.

"...hmmm… this's pretty good." No, sorry, I'll cut down on the meme. It's still early in the morning, after all.

Anyway, after I'm done, I do the dishes and take a quick shower. If it makes any of you reading feels better, I wash the spot behind my ears… you clean freaks. Dressing up is a chore. I could have chosen the good ol' t-shirt and jeans combo, but my jeans are in the drier. So, I'll have to stick my khakis… and turtleneck. Yes, I'm very sorry to all the fashionistas out there, but you won't get any fucks from me.

Not today, at least.

Grabbed my phone, wallet, pack with my laptop in it and then my watch. Was gonna go and style my hair to make it look less like a mane, but who do you think I am, Sasuke?

Getting out of my apartment room, I then made my way to the elevator. Since it's still pretty early in the morning, there aren't any people going out of the apartment. Even the usual security guard who's always patrolling the lobby's not here yet. God, just what possessed me to wake up this early in the morning?

When I did manage to reach the front gates and outside of the complex, people are giving me weird looks… or at least they're staring at me. Now I'm used to be stared at because of how I look, but there's a perfectly good and viable reason for that.

Today's a school day.

No, before you go _'hah! So he is a good for nothing delinquent who skips school after all!'_ on me, let me tell your noisy bitch ass that I'm on permitted leave. For what? For the same reason why I'm contemplating on whether or not I should order plane tickets to Canada this evening.

Why Canada? No idea.

If it helps ease your misconception, Hiratsuka-sensei is fully aware of my absence from school. The same can't be said to my classmates though, I figured that she'll be the one to tell them about my absence, but it's not like it matters anyway…

Anyway, now, I have to meet up with Yukinoshita Haruno herself. Noticed the lack of contempt in my narrative thoughts? It's because we're going to be all business when we meet up… but knowing the woman, I wouldn't bet on that. Our meeting spot is the very same bar-café that we went to when I requested for her help. The place was beginning to become some sort of confidential meeting spot for the two of us… don't know why I'm nervous about that.

I took the train in order to reach my destination. I have not received any messages, thank God, nor phone calls, same, from Haruno-san; so I can't tell whether she's there or not. If her younger sister was to be indicator… then she'll probably be there first before me. I try my damn hardest to not pick up my very late sensei's habit, but today's my off day, I can grumble all I want.

Chiba is peaceful as usual. It's still fairly morning, but students are already at school at this hour, but I wouldn't count the chance of meeting someone familiar out just yet. The ride to the station was monotonous. Nothing happened. If your mind's deluded with thoughts of dirty old men suddenly grabbing your ass and copping a feel of your Gluteus maximus happening on the daily during a train ride, then you're mistaken.

…

Those kind'a things usually happen at night, where these old men are tired after having being worked to death by their superiors at work. And no, the victims are not always girls.

Fortunately, I did not have creepy old men trying to grab my ass and copping a feel of my Gluteus maximus. Oh, fortunately for them, mostly.

Once I was out of the station, I immediately set out to the bar-café. It's open even in this early morning, but it's not peak hour just yet, that usually happens at night, where all the dirty old men come to drink their sorrows away. Right now, I'm walking at a fairly steady pace. I'm sure as hell not looking forward to meeting the sister of the Devil Superwoman herself, so I'll try to make my walk as slow and leisure as possible.

 **Bzz Bzz**

Aw… great.

With a grudging expression, I picked up my phone. "What?"

" _Uwaah… so rude, Uzumaki-kun. I thought that you'd be happy to hear from me?"_

No way in hell. "...hn. What is it that you want to talk about? I'm on my way there…" if she's just calling me to make sure that I come, then she's just wasting her time. I never break promises.

…at least I try not to.

" _Oh. I was just going to ask you that… but that's not the only reason I called."_ I blinked. Well this is slightly surprising.

"Why?"

" _Hm… you know what? I think it's better if we talk when you've arrived. I'm waiting for you, Uzumaki-kun, see you~"_

…what the hell was that? Did she just call me for… nothing? I thought the Yukinoshita's were supposed to be efficient people, don't be giving me something different now, dang it. Anyway, after that uncharacteristically short and seemingly pointless call, I quickened my walking pace.

No, I was right. A Yukinoshita won't just call and say that it's nothing, I guess this goes for everyone but I might be wrong. She wants to tell me something, something that's probably serious. And so, with the way faster steps I'm taking, I'm basically rushing at this point, I finally made it to my destination.

I pushed the entrance of the bar-café establishment with a quick intake of air, my eyes scanned all over the place once I'm inside. Thankfully, Yukinoshita Haruno was an attentive woman. She waved her slender hands, quickly grabbing my attention. Sighing in relief, from the smile she's giving me, I guess that I'm not that late. Then again, would her expression change even if I was late?

"I'm sorry I'm late, my blanket was made out of steel apparently." I muttered while taking the empty spot across the woman in front of me. Dragging the chair backwards, I sat on it as soon as it's pulled.

"Ah, no worries, actually, I just got here myself." she can still giggle as if I was never even late in the first place. "I was still a good distance away when I called you earlier, so, no worries."

Didn't know why, but that assured me, immensely.

Swiping my hair back, I stifled a yawn. See? I really need my bed… looks like that'll have to wait, though. With slight resistance, I managed to ignore the sleepy feeling and placed it in the back of my mind as I'd rather choose to discuss the matter that she had left hanging a few moments back.

"So, what was it that you wanna talk to about?" I asked her.

Haruno-san makes a face as if she's been reminded of something important. She adjusts the distance of her seat from the table, before answering my question.

"During the past few days, I have been meeting people from your publishing firm for discussions." I swore I felt something like irritation in her voice. "While I admire their determination and willingness to make this upcoming event a success, your manager… you know, Tanaka-san, can be quite… unlikeable."

Oh? What's this? Yukinoshita Haruno is openly admitting that someone's unlikeable? _THE_ Yukinoshita Haruno?!

"Waiter! A round of your best beer for the both of us!"

"Coming!"

Haruno looks at me weirdly. "Why are you ordering alcohol? And in the morning too…"

Why are you asking? "No reason." I shrugged. "Anyway, what happened with Tanaka-san? She did something you consider 'unlikeable', what is it?"

It's the first time I've ever seen her sigh that long. Right now, Yukinoshita Haruno is no different from those college girls after a tiring day at campus. "No offense to Tanaka-san, but sometimes, she makes me feel like I'm dealing with my mom." ooh, yeah, I get that feeling too. "There're differences, but at least my mom has a reason for working me off like a horse every now and then…"

The look she's giving me change, shifting into a mix of playful irritation and mild annoyance. Pouting, she averts her eyes away from me. "Maybe I should make you do more than just call me 'Onee-san'…"

I snorted. As we're speaking, the waiter that I called earlier returns with a tray of two pint of beers filled with, well duh, beer. He sets the drinks down at our table, before excusing himself away.

"I really mean it when I asked you for this huge favor, so you better use that one remaining pass wisely." I said to her carefully before taking a sip from my beer. Oh yeah, this is some good shit, not those watered down piss that they usually serve.

"Hm…" wow, she's actually putting some thoughts into it. "Mah, I guess I'll come up with one later." She says dismissively, shrugging her exposed shoulders with ease. "But back to the point as to why we're here, Uzumaki-kun, my you can be quite distracting, can't you?" giggling, she pulls out a clear file holder from the bag she's been carrying all this time, placing it on the table, away from the beer.

"Basically, this file contains the timetable for this evening's meeting. There is also a staff roster inside so that you can see the team involved in the meeting and, oh, every financial document and the likes have been surrendered to the people from your publishing company, so no need to worry about that!"

Suddenly, I feel very impressed. Based on what Tanaka-san have told me, the place where the fan-meet will take place isn't really an easy place to book, mainly because of how often people or other productive organization book the place. However, through this thing I'm beginning to call Yukinoshita magic, Haruno-san managed to book it for us. I should really feel grateful for her efforts. Pulling something like that, especially on a sudden note like this.

But that just makes me wonder… just how influential the Yukinoshita's are?

I took several large gulps from my pint, while Haruno-san is taking moderate small ones. "You know, I'm really grateful for you doing this for me." I confessed. "With my own work, the school festival and my position as the vice chairman of the committee, I really couldn't spare any time to do this."

I fell like I'll regret this… but…

"Thank you, Haruno-san."

The normally calm, knowing and sly expression fades, changing into something far more… refreshing. Surprise colors her face, the complete widening of eyes, suddenly stiff stature and eerily uncharacteristic silence coming from her are… off, yet I can still consider them refreshing. My image of Yukinoshita Haruno had not been a good one, yet it was never bad either. Ever since that day, during the summer festival, I got a glimpse of who Yukinoshita Haruno really is. Though it's only something as small as a mere glimpse, I didn't have to do much to figure out that Yukinoshita Haruno is indeed a wonderful woman.

…though that doesn't mean that she's not sly.

Why do I get the feeling that I'm going to meet someone just as sly as this woman all of a sudden?

"Ahahaha, as I expected, you're really an interesting person, Uzumaki-kun." See? That kind of smile just warrants her status of being a tease even more. "No wonder Yukino-chan still hangs around you." stop giggling, woman. "Haah… makes me want to turn back time and relive the high school days…"

Now that's odd coming from her. I never really figured her as the type to just say things like that. But, I guess even the best of us have their off days too…

…or in her case, the worst of us.

Hah.

"Then… is this all?" my voice came out hesitant, even to my own confusion. Why am I hesitating?

Her eyelids flutter, making a contrasting reaction to mine. Whereas I'm confused internally, she's easily expressing it through her expressions. "Hm? Ah, yes, that's basically all." The confused expression is wiped away, overtaken by her usual teasing and sly one. "Or, would you care to spend the rest of your morning with Onee-san?" she's wiggling her eyebrows. "You have the entire day on permitted leave, right?"

"…yeah." I said, suddenly finding the back of my neck itchy for some unexplainable reason. "Aaaaand… uh…" dammit, me, the hell you're acting all wishy-washy for?! "I guess… I don't mind wasting the rest of my morning."

"Ohohoho?~" oh don't give me that. "What is this~? Uzumaki-kun's going to spend time with me of his own volition? My, my, my~ never thought that the day would come, honestly!" is this payback for having more or less the same thoughts earlier?

If so, then I completely admit my wrongs.

"Hm…~ where should we go, I wonder? Since it's still morning, there's not much where we can go to…" I don't really know why she's putting so much thought into it but I won't say anything.

I owe her more than just those three, though selfish, requests that she still has one left remaining.

"What do you suppose we do, Uzumaki-kun?" suddenly, she's giving me the hot bucket to hold.

Well, eh, damn, how should I know? True, it's still morning, and the only places that were opened were the supermarkets, the train station, that one ramen shop that Hiratsuka-sensei and I ate at that one time and this place, apparently. And, I know it'd make me look like a total liar or hypocrite to say this but, I don't really have time to spare. I need, after all, to prepare myself for the fan-meet later this evening.

"I don't know." I probably shouldn't have said it so quickly. "But, hey, enjoying beer and talking like this can be considered as spending time, right?" I wiggled my eyebrows for effect.

"I suppose you're right, ufufufu~"

The rest of my morning was spent talking, drinking and chatting away with Yukinoshita Haruno.

* * *

"Hello? Who's this?"

"… _Uzumaki-kun."_

Honestly speaking, I didn't expect to hear Yukinoshita's voice from the other end of the line. I'm surprised.

Right now, I'm in a train, on my way to the place where the fan-meeting will be held later. My clock reads 1440 hours in the early afternoon. I still have around four hours or so until the fan-meet starts, but the company called me earlier telling me that all staff – including me the author – are to gather at the location as early as possible.

I would have later if it wasn't for Tanaka-san calling me personally.

But right now, none of that mattered. Right now, I'm wondering where on earth did Yukinoshita manage to get my number…

"Yukinoshita? What's up? Aren't you supposed to be in class?" afternoon lessons are a pain, but I can't imagine Yukinoshita skipping them just to make a phone call, unless it's an important one.

"… _my class was dismissed early, Uzumaki-kun."_ What's with this question and answer sequence, huh?

"So, why are you calling?"

For a full five seconds, I am returned with nothing but silence. No breathing sound, no words. Just silence. Is it really that hard to answer? I mean, sure, it's no Yes-No answered question but, the answer's got to be only one.

" _I was told by… Yuigahama-san that you're away on permitted leave today. Might I ask why?"_ oh, so she's curious. Hm… I only told Hiratsuka-sensei that I'll be away for business purposes, not detailing her the specifics, so I guess it's understandable as to why Yukinoshita's curious.

"Ah. It's for business, really. You know, the fan meet?"

" _Ah, now that you mention it, I do recall you talking about it sometime during the school festival."_ An uncanny pause happened at the end of her statement. _"Is Nee-san involved in this?"_

"Haruno-san?" I repeated. "Yeah, she's the one who got us the place in the first place. Man, your sister's really something, huh?" I chuckled.

"…"

Hm? "Hello? Yukinoshita?" what happened? You fainted from too much talking?

"… _it's nothing, Uzumaki-kun. Will my sister attend this fan-meet that you will hold?"_ she's asking about her sister again, is she concerned?

"Hm, honestly, I don't know." I answered honestly, the train rattling as it travels through the tracks. "She helped us a lot, so I guess I could let her in with a free pass. The fan-meet's in the evening though, don't know if she'll be free by then…"

I probably should have asked Haruno-san about this, dammit me.

" _I see. Then… would it be alright if I-I were to attend it myself?"_

Oho? Yukinoshita's interested in my job? Or is it my _book_?

"Well, I don't mind." I said to her. "But I'll have to warn you, there's gonna be a lot of people. Most of them can be… very eccentric." Forget eccentric, I should have just used the word weird.

Then again, I am the author that wrote the books that these 'weird' people read. Fuck.

" _Hm? What do you mean?"_

"Just imagine being in a room for two or so hours with people like Zaimokuza." I said in a tone as flat as the railway the train was currently on right now. "How 'bout that?"

"… _I'll… endure."_

How brave of you, young grasshopper. No, really, I can sense the heaviness in that statement before.

"Cool. And you say that you'll come alone?"

" _A-And is there any problem with that?"_ whoa, what's with the hostility?

"Hey, hey, I don't have problems if you come alone… it's just that…" how should I say this without making my fans, the staff involved and ultimately myself look bad…? "…it'd be better if you come with company, you know? There will be a lot of-" weird. "-people in there."

"… _that should not be a concern, Uzumaki-kun."_ Somehow and for some reason, her tone's completely different from before. She seems… glad? _"I can look after myself. Have I proven you wrong this whole time?"_

I smiled and it took me a lot to prevent a chuckle from escaping my mouth. "Yeah, I guess you could." But I am smiling as I'm speaking to her at the moment. "So, if you decide to come, I'll mail you the place later. Right now, I'm on the train to make my way there, they need everyone there as early as possible… unfortunately."

It seems that my expense is always a source of comedy for this girl. _"I see. Well then, stay safe, Uzumaki-kun."_

Hm… ah, that's right! "Ah, by the way, Yukinoshita?"

" _Hm? What is it, Uzumaki-kun?"_

"How did you get my number?"

"…"

"Yukinoshita?"

 **Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee-**

OI SHE HUNG UP?!

* * *

W-Whoa… Haruno-san, just what kind of woman are you?

While I know that we requested a place that could accommodate a lot of people, from a hundred up to two hundred, but who would've thought that she'd get us a place as fancy as this?

The place was not your ordinary place either. It's a multipurpose ballroom in a four star hotel, not _those_ kinds of hotels mind you, that people would normally use for congress or business conference. Here I am standing inside the lobby of said hotel, dressed in a turtleneck and khakis. How freaking appropriate.

I'm not going to go into details and describe what makes this place fancy, it's not like I'm doing a descriptive essay or something, as the word 'fancy' alone is enough to warrant how expensive it is to rent a room – much less a **ball** room – in this place. Some next level bargaining, influence and string pulling must have been done in order to cut down the cost…

"Oi, kid, looks like you're here."

Looking down, I came face to face with the ever so grumpy face of Tanaka-san.

Ugh, I hope Komachi won't grumble as much as you when she grows up…

The woman before me has her trademarked 'grumpy' look on her face, which was a seemingly never-ending scowl on her face, narrowed eyes and posture that shows her short fuse; crossed arms and slightly tilted head. Are tsundere moms always like this?

Yeah… I guess so.

"The others are waiting for you in the waiting room." She says to me, irritation dripping from her words.

Without saying anything, I merely nodded and followed after her towards wherever it was she's taking me. For a moment, my mind stopped registering everything about this place and was taken into the realm of deep thinking.

I have more than three hours until the fan-meet starts and the first half of that free time was probably going to be used for a group discussion and all that jazz, sheesh, please spare me that, at least. Our walk there took no longer than three minutes, judging by how confident she's leading me here, it seems that Tanaka-san had been coming here often lately, probably to do some managerial stuffs and all that. Not to mention, she's the one who's in charge of the overall event.

"Get in there."

Alright, alright, sheesh…

Opening the wooden door of the supposedly waiting room where some other people are currently inside waiting for my arrival, I did so with ease. If I'm about to work with these people, then I might as well meet them now. As soon as I stepped inside the room, I was greeted with several familiar faces and unfamiliar ones. Those who knew me before, typically those from the publishing company, gave me silent waves. Still, I'm at the receiving end of six people's attention.

"Alright everyone," Tanaka-san calls out from behind me, finally entering the room too. I found my spot on one of the many chairs available for me to sit on. "let's get this preliminary meeting started." Preliminary? You mean there's going to be more? Don't tell me that there's another one after the fan-meet?

The moment I sat down, Tanaka-san proceeded along with the meeting. Honestly, I didn't pay attention one bit. Sure, I'm hearing her speak, but I'm not really listening to what she's saying either. It's going to be, more or less, the same with last time's fan-meet, so I don't really see the need to really listen in. I'll just have to sit there in front of everyone, flanked by Tanaka-san and several other people from the company and the security team will be there in the room making sure that they don't riot on me when I reveal to them that I decided to take another hiatus.

Oh God, I just hope that they can handle them if they decided to riot.

Anyway, this meeting mostly focused on the overall take of the fan-meet and we touched topics like:

What kind of questions I could answer, what kinds of questions I could NOT answer, what I'm allowed and not allowed to do.

Of course, the focus was more on the first two points, since the last two mostly apply to the people who'll be meeting me. As for me, the things that I'll be mostly doing are answering questions and book signing. But when you have hundreds of people lining up to get their books signed, you can only imagine how long it'll take.

It's at moments like this where I'm mad that I can't use my shadow clones.

"Alright, meeting is adjourned."

Finally.

"Take a thirty minute break and after that, we'll begin the rest of the preparations." Tanaka-san looked at me directly. "Uzumaki, you'll be eating lunch with me."

I narrowed my eyes. "Why?"

"I need to make sure that you won't ditch us."

I blinked, before giving her a rather sour expression. "You're making it sound like I've ditched something as important as my own graduation or something."

"Huh, you didn't? You gave me the impression that you'd at least ditched your middle school graduation."

"Oi!"

Sighing, Tanaka-san crosses her arms, giving me one final look. "Anyway, just follow me, we'll go using my car."

There's really nothing I can say… other than…

"Okay, fine, but I'm choosing." Hah, take that, woman!

"Meh."

* * *

"I should've known better than to let you choose the place…"

I slurped down my… eh… second serving of noodles, enjoying the flavor of the local delicacy with gusto. Setting my chopsticks aside, I leaned to grab the soy sauce, applying it to my noodles.

"You should've known better than to invite me for lunch." I deadpanned, returning the soy sauce back to the seasoning rack. "Ramen's a great food, I don't know why you people complain." No, seriously, I really don't.

Tanaka-san lifts her chopsticks up, grabbing several strands of noodle, eyeing it with uncertainty. "Well, to tell you Uzumaki, most of us are concerned with how much calories this food packs. Unlike some people in the world, most of us gain weight easily… and eating greasy slop like this does not help with our condition."

Hm, that's actually wrong.

The thing with dieting is that people tend to do it wrongly. At least for me it's wrong. After you eat, you'll need to burn the same amount of calories that the food you were eating before was carrying. Even back in my days, mostly kunoichi, people did it the wrong way. They're too concerned with their figure and for good reasons too. Kunoichi, as in female ninjas, are often given missions that require them to play their part as a woman.

Whether it's seducing a feudal lord before assassinating him, getting information through seduction or even infiltrating that one particular ninja village where most of their enlisted ninjas are kunoichi's. They need to maintain the perfect appearance and figure, so, it's no wonder that most kunoichi you'd meet back then were beautiful, ain't gonna lie. But they're roses with thorns, trust me, I should know.

Bottom line, I'm saying that we're all conscious of own actions, regardless of how small it is. And even if we're not, we still realize it, subconsciously.

"It's fine." I waved her worry off nonchalantly. "If you exercise properly, then you'll burn what you eat in no time." I should be a dietary advisor or something…

…yeah, no.

"Hm, the problem is that I don't have the time to do proper exercise, you brat." Now she's mad, great. "But, fine, I'm hungry and I paid for this already."

Good, now stop complaining and eat your goddamned noodles.

By the way, we're eating at a ramen shop that's not too far from the hotel. We could have walked, but Tanaka-san insisted that we took the car. Seeing as I didn't want to argue with an already irritated Tanaka-san, I complied wordlessly. I get to eat ramen anyway, so, why complain amirite?

"Say, brat…"

I opened one eye, while my mouth's enjoying my noodles. "Whaf ish ih?"

"Swallow first, dammit."

…okay, I'm good now. "What is it?"

"…do you think I'm a good mom for Komachi?"

…

…

Oh God she finally asked the one question that I would not rather answer, **ever**.

Gone was the irritated and ever-so-grumpy expression on her face, replaced by the tired and weathered expression of a mother who's doing her all to ensure the livelihood of her small family. And now she's not even eating her noodles, merely playing around, dipping her chopsticks in and out of the broth, stirring aimlessly.

Ugh… how should I tackle this… for once, I know if I say something like 'what do you mean, of course you are!' to her, she won't take it seriously. But if say something like 'hm, I'm not quite sure' then I'll just be playing the role of gravity and pull her down. Dammit, if this was a galge, I'd have a text box screen showing me the different decisions that I could choose and say for Tanaka-san. But since my life is not a galge, nor do I look forward to experiencing killer headaches when I make a rational choice, nor would I choose stupid decisions instead to prevent the aforementioned punishment…

I have to think a little bit more.

"…obviously, you're a good mom to Komachi."

She stops stirring her noodles, her eyes fixing themselves upon me as if she's analyzing a spreadsheet.

"I mean, you try to be a good mom for her, right?" I asked back, setting my chopsticks down for a while. "If you consider what you're doing now as something 'good', then it is 'good'. To hell with what other people say." I doubted that anyone would say that you're a bad mom in the first place.

"…I see." She sighs, whether out of relief or disappointment, I did not know. "In the end… it's my thought that matters, huh?"

I suppose so.

I've seen people living by the standard of those around them.

' _Oh, you should be this in the future, you'll be a great person!'_

' _Study hard, that way, you'll definitely land a job in the most successful companies!'_

' _If you graduated from this university, then you'll easily get a job!'_

Some of these questions may be familiar to most of us, especially if you're exposed or involved in an educational environment like me. Now, in a time when the age of technology and information reigns supreme above all else, a new set of standard and grade must be met in order to socially succeed. We have people like philosophers, great thinkers and even philanthropists coming up with new ways to live life based on their unique wisdom.

But all of those wise words… advices… suggestions…

…do they even matter?

Some of us live life according to how society has defined it to be. Our standards have become the same. Anything that we consider unique may be considered as a threat by those around us. Most of us want to live life unrestrained, unbound by the chains of society and the values of norm.

While most of these social values certainly do them good, I still think that one's values should be the paradigm of one's own existence, instead those of others. If you live by the value of others, then you'll never really know how much you're worth.

"Yeah. I suppose so."

In the end, that's all I could say to her.

* * *

Oh damn, there is way more people than I thought there would be…

Peeking from the door that leads to the backstage area, I observed my following that are now gathered and seated on the chairs in the ballroom area. Hm, I'm getting quite nervous… what's wrong with me?

Here's the outline:

I walk up there, greet them and followed the script that the team gave me earlier. The script serves as a cue card for me to remember what to talk about, so, it's important.

First thing on the list is for me to start beginning the AMA – Ask Me Anything – session. Well, not really 'Anything', but anything's that related to Icha Icha.

Second is, when the twenty minutes of the AMA session's done, the book signing session. The session that I loathe the most and the one that I wish I could cancel. Knowing just how much sales we're making from the recently released volume, I have to sign at least two hundred copies. Why can't they just give me a stamp with my face on it to sign the books with?! My wrists will die after that many signing!

Third is, well this I like, the closing session. Basically, it's where I'll have the opportunity to switch myself with a clone and let said clone deal with fans who want to take pictures or something like that.

"Oi, kid, let's go, they're waiting."

Begrudgingly, I opened the door and made my way outside, up the stage. As soon as I stepped outside, cheers erupted immediately. I know that this isn't healthy for my ego, but, I'm kinda glad to see that both Jiraiya's work and mine have managed to gather a lot of followings. The cheering was loud. Louder than last year if I remembered correctly, but that's probably just the room being too big that it echoed all the noise to me. They even have banners and all that out, wow, these people aren't ashamed to express their love for Icha Icha, thus at the same time making them a pervert, huh?

May you rest in peace wherever you are, pervy sage…

I sat on one of the chairs provided on the stage, a long table was also laid out so that I could accommodate my script and water bottle and microphone. Huh, they really put effort on this. As soon as I sat down, the crowd quieted, seemingly eager to hear me speak with all the whisperings and uncontained mutterings that they were making.

"To those of you who have attended the Icha Icha Paradise 2nd Annual Fan Meet-"

Wait, THIS SHIT'S ANNUAL NOW?!

"-ing, we would like to thank you." Tanaka-san speaks into the microphone, bowing her head lightly. "The first session of this fan meeting will be an Ask Me Anything session with Jiraiya-sensei. There will be a twenty minutes duration until the next session starts. Please direct your question in an orderly manner."

Tanaka-san, obviously, is speaking a more polite manner. There's a timer on the table beside my space. I'm flanked by Tanaka-san herself and a guy from the publishing company, never seen him before, and there're also several security team members behind us. Huh, well, let's just get this started.

Oh, there's someone already raising their hand.

I leaned in closer to speak to the mic. "You, the guy in the red shirt."

It took a while to hand the mic over to him, since he's seated somewhere in the middle. When a security member finally gets to him with the mic, he immediately speaks into it. "Good evening, Jiraiya-sensei." I waved back at him. "Sensei, do you consider on publishing another series or a standalone work other than Icha Icha at the moment?"

Hm, I kinda expect for someone to ask me a question like this.

Pulling myself closer to the microphone, "At the moment? No. My focus is entirely aimed at Icha Icha, so I won't be publishing anything big like a new series or something. A standalone Icha Icha work, however, might be possible. I've considered writing spinoffs, but never really got the time to put it on paper."

The guy seems satisfied with my answer, so, I guess we're off to a good start. Whoa, more people are raising their hands. Let's see… "Alright you, the beautiful young lady over there." Several people laughed halfheartedly, while the girl herself reddens under the attention.

"A-Ano… Naruto-sensei…" c'mon, speak girl, we're on the clock here. "W-What do you personally think about same sex relationships? W-Would you consider on writing a story with a focus like one?"

Okay, this one slipped underneath my radar. But it's not completely hard to answer.

"What I think about same sex relationships… hmm…" I paused. "…I think that, in the writing media, it's something that is beginning to receive more attention lately. And just like all novels or story medium out there, as long as it's done properly, correctly and appropriately, I guess it's a whole new world that I'm willing to delve into. And your next question, right now, my focus is mainly placed on the current Icha Icha series and any spinoffs that might do will probably revolve around the existing characters."

I guess my answer was satisfying enough, seeing as her expression is rather cheerful.

"Next one is… the group in the back." A group of boys and girls seated together, side by side, wearing the same style of outfit with hachimaki reading 'I LUV ICHA ICHA' are seated at the back row.

It took a while for someone to hand them a mic and when someone finally did, another girl was chosen as their representative to speak. "Jiraiya-sensei, if it's okay to ask, where do you get the idea of your penname from? We did research and is it possible that you received inspiration from the folklore Jiraiya Gōketsu Monogatari?"

Ah, I've been expecting this, to be honest.

"Funnily, my godfather's name is Jiraiya." Several murmurs and surprised reactions broke out amongst the crowd. I chuckled at their reactions. "And even funnier, he's named after the character in the folklore you've researched about." I said. "I'll be honest here, the first four volumes of Icha Icha are actually my godfather's work, with several editing and additions from me. He… never really got to publish his work because of his death and… at that time, I wanted to share his works with people."

I paused, letting the trivia sink it for a while.

"So, I decided to choose Jiraiya as a penname, because the work originally belonged to the old pervert."

After speaking, I didn't receive any scolding or any reprimand from Tanaka-san, so I guess it's fine to share that little fun fact.

Alright, let's get on with the session…

"Sensei, what does it feels like being a part time author and a high school student at the same time? I know that you're open about your image and that you're comfortable with meeting people outside of formal events like this, doesn't that somehow clash with your personal life?"

I chuckled before answering. "You're talking as if I have a lot of friends or something at school." I sighed good naturedly. "Being a part-time author and student at the same time is certainly not easy, since you'll have to fit a lot of studying into your writing schedule and vice versa, but so far, I've been doing well."

Thanks to Shadow Clones.

"And as for my public image, you're right, I am open about my public image. If you guys follow me on social media, which I only update when I have free time, then you guys can see that I'm doing fine as an author and as an individual at the same time. And personal life… again, it's not like I have many friends, and whatever few friends I have are pretty much comfortable with what I'm doing, as in my job. So… my personal life is writing, so saying that it'll clash is basically impossible."

"Uh, sensei, to follow up the question asked previously, what were your friends' reactions when you told them or when they found out that you're an author of an erotica book?"

"To be honest, some of them said that I was a creep." I winked. "But I won't say anything more cause that person's here."

I see you blushing, club president, be thankful I don't call you out.

"Sensei, what do you think is the most essential part in writing?"

"Hm… motivation. I mean, seriously speaking, an author's fuel is his motivation and inspiration. Without those two, then, I'm not sure how he or she'll make a story in the first place. If we're to follow this motivation and inspiration path, then, all in all, it comes down to how clever you are in using your everyday life as a source of motivation to fuel your writing."

"Jiraiya-sensei, have ever had a girlfriend?"

"Yeah, but let's not talk about that, mmkay?"

"Sensei, if you could rewrite an entire scene or book, which one would it be and why?"

"Hm… to be honest, I'm fine with what I've written. And don't tell me that you guys aren't fine with it, because the number of sales we received pretty much told us that most of you guys pretty much enjoyed what I've written so far."

"Naruto-san, is it okay if I call you that?"

"Sure."

"Then, if you have the opportunity or if you're given the chance to, would you consider trying ramen flavored ice cream? Well… ehehe, since you're a ramen otaku and all that, based on the pictures you've posted in your Twitter."

"Yes. Absolutely, in fact, I'd be willing to eat that for every after meal dessert I'll have."

More or less, the AMA session went on like this. Now, people are lining up to get their book/s signed. I'll need to prepare my mental strength for this because God knows I'll need it.

"Eh… Jiraiya-sensei, I just want you to know that I've been a huge fan of your work ever since your first book!" the guy looks like your typical otaku identity. Collared, checkered shirts, jeans, round glasses, a hachimaki wrapped around his forehead and he's also carrying a bag filled with things that interest him. "So, please, sign my books!"

Gee, if you're like that, then what can I say?

"Sure… what's your name?"

"Komori. Komori Tetsuo."

"Right… Komori… Tetsuo-san… there, on all five books." I smiled. "Thank you for your support up till now, please continue on supporting me!"

Well… there's one guy down… two hundred and ninety nine people to go…

* * *

"God… I'm so tired…"

Bad news.

I didn't get to switch myself with a shadow clone, so, fuck me for that.

I had to endure two hours' worth of book signing and picture taking. The fatigue I felt was mostly mental, then again, I often feel mentally fatigued. Right now, I'm back in the waiting lounge with several other people. We're now resting, obviously. Tanaka-san is not here though; she needs to talk to several important people first, I reckoned for formality purposes… either way, I can't wait to get out of here. Man… where are you Tanaka-san?

"Oi Uzumaki." Speak of the devil, and she shall arrive.

Tanaka-san peeks her head inside the room, the normal look of endless irritation coloring her face. "You're free to leave now, we'll handle things from here."

That's great. "Oh really? Great." I stood up, picked up my bag then walked out of the room. "So I can leave now?"

"Yeah." What's with that expression, woman? Then again… you are _always_ irritated. "Just be sure to not go home too late."

"Yeah, yeah." Great, now I can meet up with Yukinoshita.

I said my goodbyes properly to the team involved in facilitating the fan meeting, some of them wanted to take pictures with me so I let them. Right now, I'm making my way back to the lobby. There should still be several people from the fan meeting in the lobby, better go and tell Yukinoshita to meet me by the entrance.

Checking my call history, I dialed Yukinoshita's number.

" _Hello, Uzumaki-kun?"_

"Yukinoshita? Hey, uh, where are you right now?"

" _I'm outside, by the entrance."_

"Oh." Man is she an ESP? "Right. Can I meet you there?"

" _Of course. I'll be waiting."_

"Don't worry; I'll be there in a second."

Better hurry up. Increasing my walking pace, I exited the lobby and made my way outside. Surely enough, Yukinoshita's waiting outside, dressed in something else other than her school uniform. I walked up to her, it seems that she hasn't noticed me.

Well, it's time to change that.

"Yo." I took a page out of my very late sensei. "Wait long?"

Dressed in a very cute one piece purple dress, with a pair of short shorts underneath, hopefully, she turns on her heels to face me. There it is, that Yukinoshita-like smile that promises lots of cold insults and hot roasts.

"Knowing the kind of person I'm waiting for, I'm surprised I'm not waiting any longer." Okay, that's way tamer than what I had expected. "Anyway, I'm impressed Uzumaki-kun. Who would've thought that a job such as yours would generate you a lot of following? I could easily see how loyal they were from the… number of books they brought for you to sign."

"Hm, speaking of which, why didn't I see you back then?" I asked, feeling a little curious.

"Oh," her expression shifts from being playful to a downcast one, "it was getting rather crowded back there… I had to get out."

Wait. "You mean you've been waiting out here in the dark and cold all by yourself?" I could not contain my voice there. What the hell woman? You're just asking for things to be done to you. Do you want to get your Gluteus maximus grabbed?

For some reason, she's glaring at me. "No, you thickheaded oaf. I waited in the lobby. I considered sending you a text message, but I figured that you're too busy signing books and taking pictures." She sighed as if I was the world's most disappointing person. "Honestly, Uzumaki-kun, is this what you mean by your retarded like tendencies?"

This little…

Sighing, I decided not to pinch the hell out of this girl's cheeks in public. Looking at my watch, it's reading 2043. Hm, it's already this late… she had to wait two hours or so in the lobby.

"Hey, wanna grab dinner?"

…what's with that face?

"No, it's not gonna be ramen, I swear…"

Oh now she's smiling. "Alright, I'll take you up on that favor, Uzumaki-kun." gee, everyone has bias against ramen. "How about I choose the place, would that be okay for you?"

I shrugged. "Sure, I'm fine with that."

* * *

So we found this family restaurant…

And… well, the food's good, the atmosphere's good and the waiter's not an ass…

But…

"Listen here woman, I told you I'll treat you food tonight."

"Oh? But I am eating."

I glared at the younger sister of Yukinoshita Haruno. "Salad is not proper food, woman. Eat some damn proteins." I used my fork and shoved a piece of chicken breast on her face. Yukinoshita, obviously, reels back.

"H-Have you no shame, you loon? Don't shove food on my face!"

"I'll shove my whole plate on your face if you don't take this chicken!" seriously, it's like I'm dealing with a five year old who doesn't want to eat her vegetables… except in this case Yukinoshita's not five and I'm feeding her meat. "Just take it."

She gives me a light glare, but she allows me to put the chicken on her plate anyway. "…I don't even like karaage that much."

You'll like it now. "Just eat it." I grumbled. "I mean, why are you eating salad in the first place? It's not like there's a need for you to lose weight or anything…"

She stops mid-way through chewing the chicken, her face suddenly becomes red. Hmm… it's not spicy, right? "A-Ahem, I never said I'm going to lose weight. Minus points for poor assumptions, Uzumaki-kun."

I rolled my eyes. "Goddammit not you too…" I sighed.

"Oh?"

Picking up another piece of karaage, I consumed it before speaking. "Your sister's doing the same thing with the unnecessary points and all that… I swear, if I ever meet a girl who does that too, I'll go bananas." I cleared my throat with a glass of barley tea that I ordered.

"Hm… Nee-san, huh…" hm, what's wrong? "How often do you meet Nee-san, Uzumaki-kun?"

"Often?" I furrowed my eyebrows. "You make it sound as if I meet her all the time. No, I don't meet her often. In fact, it's only for the past week and earlier today. We had to meet up and talk to discuss for the fan meeting, didn't I tell you this?"

"You did, but that still doesn't answer my question. Do you meet with Nee-san often during this one week?" why is she being so persistent…?

"I guess." I paused. "Why are you asking?"

Yukinoshita's shoulders droop and a heavy sigh escapes her lips. "It's… nothing."

Oh no, young lady, I ain't buying that.

"No. It can't be just 'nothing'." I parroted her answer in a slightly mocking manner, playing with the pitch of my voice. "You're nervous, you want to say something. Tell me." observation skills 109.

Judging from the way she's gripping her fork, averting of eye contact and pursing of lips… she's really trying hard to keep her thoughts to herself. I don't want to come off as pushy here but Yukinoshita's bad at lying… no, she's so bad at lying that she actually looks good at it.

I don't know if that makes sense but it is the case for me.

"…lately… Nee-san and I have not been talking much."

"…I always thought that the both of you gave that impression. What changed?"

She takes time to think for a moment. "Normally, she'd send me text or any important things that I should know about. But lately… she's been texting me less and only for the important things rather than trivial ones like asking me which colored dress is better." Ah, the pain of sisterhood…

"Hm…" honestly, I don't know what to say, because as far as I know, Yukinoshita Haruno has always been predictable. In a sense that I know why she's doing things the way she's doing them. But whatever it is that she's doing, I do not know. Throughout the short meetings that I managed to share with Yukinoshita Haruno, I never really bothered asking her what is it that's in her mind.

Well, obviously, that'd be rude and creepy…

But… at the same time, a part of me wants to trust her to be able to reconnect with Yukinoshita, which is why I did not bring up the subject of Yukinoshita at all. Yet, at the same time, more of me knows that it'll take quite some time before these two sisters could truly reach out to each other.

"Honestly speaking, I'm worried, Uzumaki-kun."

.

.

.

"…for Haruno-san or for yourself?"

Yukinoshita blinks, as if my question was not something she's considered me saying. "What do you mean?"

"Normally, if it's a situation like this, the person playing your role would be worrying about themselves." I said as seriously as I could. "They start to overthink why the other person isn't talking to them as often anymore and in the end, they convince themselves that it's probably their fault." I eyed her for a moment. "You don't think you've done something wrong, do you?"

Yukinoshita shakes her head immediately. "No, of course not. Nothing's wrong."

"Then why is your sister not talking to you often?"

Bingo.

"…"

I sighed. It's sad to see someone overthinking their problems, especially when that problem may or may not be a problem in the first place. "For now, just try not to overthink it. If you can't do that, then, play the initiative and reach out to her first instead of waiting and doing nothing." I paused. "Knowing the kind of workload I've piled up on your sister this past week, she's probably tired or something." So, yeah, I guess it's my fault.

Unexpectedly, Yukinoshita nods. It's as if she's willing to accept my reasoning… at least for now.

"For realsies now, stop worrying and eat your food. Order some more or whatever, you're not going to be able to wear that cute underwear if you don't eat up."

"Wah-!" her face explodes in redness, matching the color of a tomato. "H-H-How did you?!"

"Hm? What?"

"H-How? You? Hah?" she stops squabbling like a person who has a pigeon down their throat. Instead, she's now gripping the bridge of her nose so hard that she's bound to get wrinkles before the age of forty. "…I expected no less from an author who writes lecherous books for a living…"

"You're goddamn right." Call me Walter White.

* * *

"Thank you for taking me home, Uzumaki-kun."

Hm, never thought I'd be here again. Then again… Yukinoshita's apartment isn't really that different from mine. Right now I'm standing in front of her door after having accompanied her home. It was getting late and I was still a bit peeved about that Gluteus maximus thing that my mind kept thinking about so I cannot not walk her home.

I shrugged, it's not like I'm sleepy or anything. "You're welcome. I'll be going home now, it's getting late." It's already 2133 hours, and I have school tomorrow. Even if I'm not sleepy, I can't guarantee that I'll be able to wake up properly the next day if I don't sleep soon.

"Yes, of course." Yukinoshita gives me one of her rare smiles. See, you can look even more beautiful when you're not roasting others or throwing insults. "See you tomorrow, Uzumaki-kun. Don't be late."

I waved, taking a step to leave the premise. "I'll try not to." After one last wave, she finally closed the door of her apartment.

Whew, today's one hell of a day… looks like I'll just use Hiraishin to come back home, grab a quick shower and then sleep… God knows I need it. So, as soon as I'm out of the apartment complex, I found the nearest alleyway and then activated the Hiraishin seal in my apartment.

In a literal flash, I'm back home. The lights are still off, so it's quite dark. After fixing that little problem, I took off my clothes right here and then in the living room before heading straight towards my bathroom. Stripping off what remained of my attire, I twisted the shower knob, raining cold water upon me.

Cold night showers are the best… especially after a tiring day like today.

I let the water wash down whatever filth and bacteria that has accumulated on my body. Too lazy to reach for the soap, so I'll just stand here and enjoy the cold water running down my body.

Tomorrow's a school day and it's a good thing that I have Saika took notes for me while I was away today. I'll owe him one. Hm… that doesn't seem so bad. I wonder, what would Saika have me do? It will probably have something to do with tennis or whatever, who knows, maybe I'll get to have a tennis match with him and some other guys from his club… but I'd rather play against him…

…for private reasons.

Ahem, anyway, I guess I had enough cold water for the night. Twisting the knob close, I grabbed a towel and proceeded to dry myself. I put on some night cream so that my skin won't turn into cracks in the morning, put on my sleepwear – which is just a t-shirt and track pants – and then collapsed on my bed with my phone placed properly on the nightstand.

Gotta put that shit away, cuz radiation and shit.

I closed my eyes, my consciousness slowly slipping off to sleep.

Hm… how quick will tomorrow come, I wonder?

* * *

 **Well that concludes this first Omake. There will be two more, so please be patient. I'm dealing with some real life issues at the moment and most of the times, I just can't be bothered to write. So, you might notice that the mood and tone for this chapter will slightly differ from previous ones.**

 **Through the… eh, well, I wouldn't say it kind, words of acknowledgement and praise from the wonderful sons of guns at a certain Discord group that I'm currently a member of, I managed to find the will to put this chapter up for read.**

 **Remember, these Omakes are just extras.**

 **The real content begins when season two happens, so, till then.**

 **AK-103, out.**

 **Oh and as for my other Naruto X Oregairu, that's also on hiatus. Sorry about that. And I also purposely did not include the reference details, just so that you guys could find the references for yourself.**


	17. An unexpected хорошо

**Alright, by popular demand from the wonderful suns of guns at Discord, here you go:**

 **More Totsuka.**

 **Enjoy.**

* * *

"Uzumaki! Don't slack off you still have one last lap to complete!"

Shut up coach, that reminder doesn't work when I'm one lap ahead from the rest! And what do you mean slacking?! I'm running at a pretty fast pace here, so slacking is the last thing I'm doing right now!

It's Physical Education class and in this particular morning, when the air is as cold as the interior of a fridge, they're having us run several laps around the fields like a bunch of horse. Normally, you'll see kids running around in shorts and cotton shirt, but everyone's wearing their tracksuits today. No likes it when they have to sweat while enduring the cold at the same time, after all. However, it's not as bad as it sounds. Though it is quite chilly, it means that the coach's making us do less than what we'd normally do during summer.

Ugh, the heat is also another thing on its own…

Then again, hot and cold are just extreme temperatures.

Like in standard P.E, the girls and boys are divided into two, and today's class is no different. While we, men, are out here sweating despite the fairly cold weather, the girls are all inside the gymnasium playing volleyball. I'm not complaining, don't be mistaken, I'm just trying to say that it would've been better if we're doing the same sport activity together so that we'll work out and equal amount of exhaustion and hurt.

Well, that's basically complaining huh?

In any case, I'm almost done with my run so I guess I'll see what the girls are doing.

I've been running around the track field ever since coach asked us to. I'm currently in my… hm… fifth lap now and, thankfully, this is my last one. I'll be out of here in no time, since you're basically free when you've done the things that coach asks you to do. My body paces itself automatically, my heartbeat – despite the pace I'm currently at – is at a tune that I'm normal with and used to. In other words, this is no sweat. Well, not literally, since perspiration is inevitable when you're moving, but compared to the rest of the guys that are currently… two or three laps behind me, I'm doing way better at sweating less.

"Alright, Uzumaki's done, the rest of you go faster!"

Welp, every man for himself. GG guys.

That was a pretty nice run, but nothing that tires me out. I got to jog earlier this morning, so, I was at my peak at the moment, but that feeling would recede after school though. Making my way to the sides towards my bag, I was feeling rather parched. Good thing I bought a pocari earlier. As I was about to drink, I saw Hayama finishing next after me.

"Kyaaa! Hayama-kun~!"

…of course, he had his fans waiting for him at the finish line. Wait, I thought you girls were supposed to be at the gym? What were you girls doing out here? Oh well, they probably ditched their workout, meh, who cares.

And, oh, it seemed that Saika's third. As expected from the tennis club captain.

Twisting the white bottle cap of the cold isotonic drink, I wasted no time gulping the content down into my throat. Hmm. I can feel myself feeling better already, looks like they were right after all. This thing worked like potions in those role playing games.

I was so immersed in drinking that I failed to notice two things.

One, I just drank the entire bottle empty, dampening my mood a little.

And two, Saika's walking towards me.

…but the latter's something I pay more attention to.

"Ah, Naruto." Saika greeted me with a small wave, a smile accompanying said wave. Watching him with his rather compact form walking towards me, sweat gathering on his forehead, a towel draped over his neck and his cheeks all flushed from all the physical exertion almost made me want to grab my own towel and wipe his face dry. Saika looking tired didn't sit right with me, for some reason.

"Sup, Saika." I returned his greeting. Didn't know why I wiggled my eyebrow there, but that must've made me look like a creep.

Unexpectedly, he just laughed at it. "I see that you finished first." He began. "And you're pretty fast back there, I'm sure you just broke some of the track club members' records."

Oh, gee, being praised had never had such an effect on me until now. Grinning, I waved his comment lightheartedly. "Nah, 'broke' is such a strong word. I guess 'overwritten' is more appropriate here." the both of us laughed together for a short while.

"As I thought… you'd do well on a sports club, Naruto. Then again, after seeing your performance against Miura-san and Hayato back then, well, let's just say that I wasn't the only sports club captain looking out to scout you into his club." Saika was saying this with a smile on his face.

Almost made me feel guilty that I wasn't able to accept his invitation on joining the tennis club…

"But, I'm sure that Yui and Yukinoshita-san have you occupied with club activities, huh?"

I shrugged. "Not really though. We just spend the rest of the day in our club room, drinking tea and talking. But Yui's the one doing most of the talking." I hummed while thinking at the same time. "Tell you what, if you have any request or if you're just looking to hangout, drop by our room. I'm sure Yui and Yukinoshita won't mind."

"Eeeh…?" Saika looked unsure, however. "I have club activities too, though…" yeah, that reminded me. Well, that just goes to show how dedicated Saika was in his job as captain. "But… sure, I'll keep that in mind." He smiled. "You're very nice, Naruto. Now I know why Yui and Yukinoshita-san are comfortable with you."

Hm… "Isn't it normal for people to be comfortable with people they consider nice?" I asked back, wiping my forehead with a towel that I had retrieved earlier from my pack.

Saika made a thoughtful expression, something I considered cute. "I guess you're right." Then, he shook his head, smile returning. "No, you are right. You're a nice person, Naruto, that's also probably why I'm comfortable talking with you."

U-Ugh… my heart… if a heart attack wouldn't kill me, then Saika probably would.

Steeling my expression, I opted for a more natural smirk to show. "I also think that you're a nice person, Saika. You're a good kid. You work hard, probably harder than most people I know of." Recently, yeah. "I kind'a find it admirable, in fact."

"…"

Hm, Saika? "What's wrong? The heat getting to you?" strange, it was pretty cold at the moment…

"N-No… nothing, I'm fine." Had stuttering and finger twiddling been an indicator of wellness for the past year? If so, then I was clearly out of the loop. "…now I know what Yui feels like…"

Strange… wasn't sure if I was meant to hear that last part, but something's telling me that I wasn't supposed to. So, I'll keep quiet. Standing here quietly while everyone else was still running was getting rather awkward. I kept quiet because I, mostly, didn't know what to talk about. I couldn't say for sure about Saika, but it seemed that he'd gotten over whatever was plaguing his mind. Glancing briefly at the silver haired tennis captain, I noticed that he was in fact shivering. Well, his shoulders were quivering, but with how red his face was earlier, I could only assume that the cold was getting to him.

Even though he was wearing the green tracksuit that he normally wore, it didn't change the fact that he still felt cold. So smaller people were more vulnerable to cold, huh?

"What are you doing, Naruto?"

Saika's question reached my ears while I was midway through taking off the top of my tracksuit. After it was finally off my body, I handed it to him, drawing out a very confused look from the shorter boy.

"You look cold. Wear it." I chuckled. "Wouldn't want the school's tennis captain to get cold now would I?"

Well, it might seem weird doing this to another guy, but the kid could've been feeling really cold but he's just trying his best to endure. Just because I was immortal, didn't mean that my heart's unfeeling.

But if it was Hayama who felt cold, I'd probably throw a Katon Jutsu to warm his ass.

All I was saying was that, as long as it's Saika, then it's fine.

…wait, that phrase could be misinterpreted badly.

"T-Thank you…" he took it, great. Now I didn't have to feel all bad seeing you endure the cold. But now **I'm** cold… necessary sacrifice, I guess. He draped my tracksuit, which was way bigger than he was, over his shoulders, before inserting his arms inside to overlap the layers underneath.

Then he took a whiff of my tracksuit.

"…hm…"

 _HM?!_

W-What the actual…!? Oh God, that was cute, not gonna lie, but that was cute. If Komachi did that to one of my shirt, which she would not ever do, my heart would've melted, regenerated, and melted again and regenerated again. But in this case, my heart melted, regenerated, melted again, transforming into a completely different shape than before.

"…you're using deodorant, Naruto?"

Wow, amazing! You could actually tell from just sniffing my tracksuit?! "Y-Yeah… y-you can tell?"

"My dad wears the same one." He made a thoughtful expression. "Old Spice, right?"

Gah! Don't say that out loud! I don't wanna be accused of being an old geezer!

I could only bear with it and grin at this point. "Yes, that's right…"

"Ehehe, as I thought, you're very mature aren't you?"

…that's just another way of saying I'm old innit?

Well, Saika just – technically – called me old. Great. What's next, he wore the same deodorant too?

"Ah, I wear the same one too!"

Wat?

"Oh yeah, lemme check…"

For some slightly retarded reason, I found it completely normal and appropriate to lean down, pull Saika towards my body and fucking sniff his BO. It took my, undoubtedly, retarded brain exactly ten seconds to realize what the hell it was I was doing. My eyes, which had been closed all the time I was… eh… _occupied_ with Saika, snapped open, the realization finally sinking in. My body jumped back like a spring, recoiling after the deed.

"S-S-S-Sorry! I-I-I was… uh… er…!" the words that came out of my mouth was like a jammed machine gun. "I-I was just curious and-and…!" didn't know why I bothered explaining myself. It should have been obvious.

Instead of pulling away further, giving me a nasty look, calling me a creep and then stomping off to tell the rest of the school of my newest achievement of sniffing another boy deliberately, he merely smiled.

"No, it's fine, it's fine." He's chuckling too, as if it was all fun and games. "My mom would do the same thing to me every time I finished taking a shower. So it's not that weird." Suddenly, the amusing and cute thoughtful that had grown on me returned on Saika's face. "Well there was this one time when a senpai tried to-"

" **Who?"**

"E-Eh? W-What's wrong, Naruto?"

" **Who is this senpai?"**

"Hm… eh… I can't remember him… to be honest…"

"… _him_ … huh?"

"Why are you making such a scary look, Naruto? Ahaha… are you tired after all?"

"No… no I'm not." I said reassuringly. "If I was tired, then I wouldn't be smiling, right?"

"Y-Yeah… but the way you're smiling is… eh… never mind…"

"Hm."

So… some **thing** tried sniffing Saika, huh?

Well, it's my turn to sniff whoever this thing was.

Later, every male third year students wondered why they have death threat letters placed inside their shoe lockers.

…buuuut that's a story for another time.

* * *

"Yeah, um, you see, it would've been perfect if you add the salt while boiling the taters… Now, you just have to bear the feeling of eating tasteless, casual, potato… look, I know you're upset, yes, today's supposed to be the day you brag to your friends that you can actually cook something else properly other than curry and nikujaga, but boiled potato, vegetables and some sausages makes a very good potato salad. Oh, don't forget the mayonnaise and sour cream too, and soy sauce too if your friends are into that… yeah… yeah, alright. It's alright, I'll teach you properly next time. Bye."

Never thought that my (un)related little sister would call me after an accident in her Home Economics class.

Komachi… your big brother's slightly disappointed in you… even if the food you make was always good and tasty, they're sadly limited to two to three things only. Don't worry, your Onii-chan would do anything he could to make sure your recipe range is updated! Or at least, make sure that you could actually cook other interesting meals.

"Uwaaah… look at his eyes Yukinon, he's definitely showing his siscon tendencies…"

"Hm, what a disgusting sight. Let us not eat near him, otherwise he'll infect us with his siscon virus."

…these two… "Oi, siscon virus isn't airborne." I paused. "And like hell there's something called a siscon virus in the first place." You two have the most fun when shittalking me, huh? Fine, it's not like I'm offended or anything.

Right now, the three of us were inside the Service Club's clubroom, enjoying our – except for Yui's since it's pretty clear that hers was made by her mom – homemade lunch.

"Man… this **homemade** omelet sure is tasty." I said with the loudest voice I could conjure. "I sure pity those who **couldn't** even make a **simple** , but tasty, dish like this."

The doggy took the bait. "Maki… you…" no matter how scary you try to make yourself look, the end result would always be cute, Yuigahama. It's like watching Komachi getting angry, really, all the more I wanted to tease her. The girl's face was extremely flushed, it seemed that all those time hanging around me and Yukinoshita made her more sensitive to insults or comments made her way. She clutched the pair of plastic chopsticks tightly, gripping it under her uncanny strength. "J-Just you see later Maki!"

While I was chuckling at Yui's expense, Yukinoshita played the middle man. "Yuigahama-san, it is best to not let your anger control you." then, she glared at me with those cold blue eyes. "Let your actions do it instead, action does speak louder than words after all." Yeah, screw it, even if she's sitting on the fence, she'd always end up hostile against me anyway.

"…muu…" Yui let out a noise of displeasure and dissatisfaction. "I'll get better… I know it."

That got me feeling a little bit bad. Maybe cooking was really a complex for her? Looking at her lunchbox, it seemed that she's eating a rather appetizing meal. Greens, some carbs, more proteins, some more greens… her mom – or dad, fuck, double standards – looked like a good cook. Maybe being a bad cook only applied to Yui herself? Yeah, that's probably the case.

I should know…

…those chocolates still gave me nightmares.

I probably shouldn't say anything about Yukinoshita, because we all knew that miss Iron Woman over here was more than capable of cooking her own meal. Not only she could cook, she also knew how to make it all look good. Evidently shown by the cookies that she would occasionally bring to school, she lacked not a single drop of dexterity and skill when it came to making her foods look good to eat. A perfect presentation to complement her already, borderline perfect nature…

…how fitting.

As for me, well, I cook and that's simply it. To quote a certain rat, anyone can cook. Literally, here, even Yui. It didn't matter if the end result was good or… downright inedible and unsafe for consumption, as long as the act of cooking was done, what that person was doing was still considered cooking. Cooking for me, however, was simply the act of making something edible and enjoyable to consume. You can't eat raw rice, well you _can_ , but that didn't mean you _should_ do it. But by cooking the rice, not only _can_ you eat it, you _could_ also eat it.

…I'm not making much sense am I?

Well, in any case, we all enjoy food, it's humanity's many ways of enjoying life. Why do you think those celebrity chefs get a lot of money?

In the midst of our peaceful act of eating, the door to the club room rattled, followed by three brief soft knocks that indicated nothing but politeness and tact. The three of us looked at the door instinctively, wearing similar expressions. It's strange for us to receive guests or even potential clients at this time of the day, and if it was Hiratsuka-sensei, she wouldn't even bother to knock now would she?

After a several brief seconds of waiting, our club president finally gave a reply to the knocks. "Come in."

The door slid open slowly, prompting us to raise our eyebrows in surprise. And as always, it was Yui who was first to react.

"Sai-chan! What're you doing here, another request?"

Lo and behold, it's none other than Saika himself. I flicked a two fingered salute over to his direction, which looked pretty lame considering I had a strip of nori sticking out of my mouth. Yukinoshita immediately stood up, setting her lunch aside, probably off making tea for our guest. Saika waves his small, but nonetheless strong hand, gracing us with his smile.

"Hello everyone. Do you mind if I join the three of you for lunch?" ah, the sweet sound of an angel's voice usurped the room of its quiet and almost monotone atmosphere.

"We do not mi-"

"Sure." I cut off Yukinoshita, my voice strangely enthusiastic. "We don't mind." I ignored the mean glare that Yukinoshita sent me, my gaze transfixed to Saika's walking form instead. Hm… his hair's damp and his face's flushed, looks like he just finished playing a round of tennis with his club.

Such admirable dedication, an act that we all must follow.

"Uzumaki-kun, please refrain from looking at Totsuka-san with your predatory eyes, I'm concerned about his chastity."

"Oi, even I know when to not cross the line, Yukilljoyshita-san." I snapped, retorting with a little bit of heat in my voice.

"Y-Yukilljoyshita…?"

"…pft…!" and don't start laughing Yui, it's annoying.

Saika laughed, he must have found the scene amusing. Good for him. He walked towards our table, placing his undoubtedly delicious homemade bento on the surface of our dingy table. Immediately, I stood up, placing my own lunch on the table, just a reach away from Saika's.

"Hold on, I'll go get you a chair."

"Ah, thank you, Naruto."

Big bro points have increased by 1.

Meanwhile I was doing this, Yukinoshita and Yui – two female identities that had yet to say anything significant – were having a private conversation amongst themselves. I'm fairly confident that they're talking about me. In a less than pleasing sense, if I might add.

"…psst, Yukinon… isn't Maki being too courteous right now? I mean… he never pulled me any chairs before…" that's because you always pull your own chair before I could even offer you, Yui.

"Hm, you are indeed right, Yuigahama-san. I wonder, what's wrong with him? Is his siscon tendency evolving into something far more sinister?" Oi, my siscon tendency is not a virus. And it most certainly isn't evolving.

I rolled my eyes, finally placing down the most comfortable chair that I could find in the room for Saika to sit on. "Oi, the two of you, don't think that I couldn't hear you."

"Ara? Were we even trying to not be heard, Uzumaki-kun?"

…touché...

"Thank you Naruto." That smile alone was enough thanks for me. No, in fact, it was more than enough. God, I shudder to think what would happen if Komachi gave me that kind of smile. Then again, the effect would be different, since this was Saika, not Komachi. Still, it'd be something breathtaking for sure.

Our Prince of Tennis sat down, finally opening the lunchbox that he had brought with him inside the room. Expectation and strange anticipation, almost as if I was excited to see what kind of food that Saika was about to eat.

And it did not disappoint.

Saika's meal was a healthy, colorful and delicious mix of all the lunchbox staples that you'd normally pack to eat. Karaage, rolled omelets, cherry tomatos, shaped rice, nori, pickled vegetables and…

…wait, is that a cheburek?

"Hm, what's wrong, Naruto?"

"No… I didn't know that you're into Slavic cuisine, Saika."

He laughed, red tinting his cheeks. "My Russian grandma brought this for us when she visited last night. She always make a lot for us, so, we always have leftovers the day after her visits, hahaha."

Hm, aww, that's a little bit heartwarmi-

Wait.

"Eh, you're a halfie Sai-chan?!"

Oi, don't call him a halfie. That's rude.

"Yuigahama-san, that's rude." See, even our Ice Queen agrees with me. "That is indeed surprising, if I do say so myself, Totsuka-san."

Yeah, it is, I mean, who would've thought that Saika's actually half Russian? As far as accent goes, his is perfect.

Saika laughs with his cheeks redder than before. It seems that this attention from the sudden revelation was embarrassing for him. "I was born and raised in Japan, but I frequently visit Russia to visit distant relatives." Then his gaze flicked over to me, lighter blue eyes blinking before settling in to my own. "What about you Naruto, you must have had mixed heritage, right?"

"Urk…!"

Uh… now how am I gonna tackle this?

Blinking several times, I decided to laugh it off first. If I just revealed that I was an orphan in such a blatant and sudden manner, it'd make Saika feel worse no doubt.

"E-Eh… S-Sai-chan… Maki is…" I really appreciate you saying something Yui and Yukinoshita; you didn't have to make that kind of face.

Smiling, I finally stopped laughing. Calmly, I opened my mouth, letting the words come out of my mouth as casually as I could. "I'm an orphan, Saika."

Saika went silent for a good five seconds. Then, his face twisted, from innocent curiosity, to morbid realization with an ugly mix of guilt and shock. He immediately waved his hands in front of his face, fueled by regret, as if he's trying to take back the question he asked before. "S-S-Sorry! I-I'm so sorry, I didn't know that, and, uh-"

"It's fine." Well, his reaction's completely normal. Even if he wasn't gonna go all bumbling and broken tape recorder on me, I would've still understood. "It's not a big deal for me, in the end, I turn out fine, right?"

Eh… nah, not really.

That's still a matter of debate.

"S-Still…" Saika shifted uncomfortably on his seat, his lunch completely ignored and forgotten. "I'm… I'm sorry for asking, Naruto."

"Hey now, it's fine, you didn't know." I chuckled. "And to answer your question, I do not know. Probably. I'm a natural blonde, so…" in all honesty, I'm not entirely sure on what ethnicity I am. Was dad… and mom… nah… no, no, that ain't possible. "In any case, you better eat your food Saika, it'll get cold."

"R-Right…" retrieving his chopsticks, Saika then digs into his meal. "Itadakimasu!"

Unexpectedly for me, he bit into his cheburek first. Huh, so it's appetizer, huh? I thought it's a main course, well, since he's only eating one… I guess it's about an appetizer's worth of portion…

"Ne, ne, Sai-chan, can you speak Russian?" Yui, it's rude to interrupt someone while he's eating.

I was about to remind her about this but, again, Saika surprised us.

[Of course I can speak Russian.]

"Whoa…" looked like Yui's genuinely surprised.

I wonder…

[Oh, looks like I'm not the only one.]

"M-Maki, you can speak Russian too?!" the effect doubled. In fact, I don't think that Yui's the only who's surprised.

"Ara, Uzumaki-kun, I wasn't aware you're bilingual." Yukinoshita paused, realizing her mistake. "My apologies, you are bilingual, seeing as you've spoken English fluently before… but I was not aware you could speak Russian."

"Naruto, that's cool!" Saika erupted in an uncharacteristic cheer. "And you speak English fluently, right? What other language do you speak?"

"German and French." I said casually, shrugging my shoulders. "Not as good as Japanese and English, but… yeah, still can keep up conversations." When you had to travel around like me, you naturally picked up the language of the region you were travelling in. Had to learn several but didn't get to really immerse myself in the others. "What about you, Yukinoshita, a savant like you is surely educated in language, right?"

As if to counter my playful mockery, she flicked several strands of her hair, giving me that borderline Uchiha-like smug ass look that, I admitted, triggered me a little bit.

[Of course, I find myself to be fluent in French myself. Probably more fluent than you are, Uzumaki.] A French speaking Yukinoshita isn't... that bad...

…and I hate the fact that couldn't say anything against that because her accent and pronunciations were all correct and fluid.

"…hmph." You won this round, girl.

It seemed that our multilingual discussion had caused the remaining member of the Service Club to feel excluded, as depicted from how pouty and dissatisfied her expression was. Oh God, she's not gonna break out on a tantrum, was she?

"Maki, Yukinon~!" well, at least she's not rolling around on the floor. "Don't be speaking in other languages now, you're making me feel… alien."

"Just as alien when we're speaking Japanese to you, Yui."

Yukinoshita nodded. "True."

"Mooou! You guys are so mean sometimes, not you Maki, you're a jerk to us all the time."

"Oi."

Saika couldn't hold it. He laughed heartily after watching our interaction. Just imagine him being here from day one, the first day I was forced to join this club.

Not sure if he'd be laughing like he's doing now.

* * *

"Well, well, well, now who's here."

"Hey, cut that sarcasm. You're the one who called me here."

Hiratsuka-sensei, beauty and ramen cooking skills be damned, but if you used the PA system to call me to the faculty room, then I'll hate you for a day. At most. This teacher, my literature and homeroom teacher, called me through the PA system earlier during class while our class was having Biology. I had to surrender the experiment we're doing, we were dissecting pigs' heart to learn more about blood vessels and all that, to my partner.

Thank God he was just some nameless extra…

What's worse, it's after school. Yes, Biology's our last period for the day, that explained why I'm wearing this dull as hell lab coat.

"That lab coat make you look good, by the way."

I rolled my eyes. "Yours too, sensei."

A glare. "…what do you mean by that?"

She got mad?! When she said to me I didn't even feel offended, sure it was cheesy, but c'mon woman, step up your game. Placing one of my hands akimbo on my hip, I asked, "What am I here for?"

"Oh nothing serious." And just like that, I was about to question the necessity of my presence here, but I was stopped, rudely. "You're here because I want your signature for something."

I raised an eyebrow, opening my mou-

"No, it's not one of your books. And no, it's not the newest one you've released either."

….then it's back shut.

"It's your permitted leave form." She pulled out a thin sheet of paper with text box and writings on it that I could only assume was unnecessary for me to read. "Just sign here then you'll be off." She said before taking a sip of her instant, water diluted coffee from her white mug.

Sighing, I borrowed a pen from her, using it to sign the form. Whilst signing, I couldn't help but ask, "Was calling me out like that really necessary?" I didn't think it is.

"Nah, it wasn't." now you're laughing. "I just want to see your annoyed reaction when you got here." You're a closet sadist woman.

Kinky.

"So, how did it feel? How was your classmate's reaction?"

I flicked the pen back to the cup, which had been used as a makeshift pen holder for her stationaries, watching it as it landed inside with a rattle. "I felt ashamed. Embarrassed." My voice was like the lifeline of a dead patient on life support. "Yui was giving me paranoid looks, so were Hayama and his gang, and I'm sure that in her class, Yukinoshita went: 'Ah, about time the school takes action to contain that dangerous beast' or something like that…"

Hiratsuka-sensei laughed, as in, loud. She slapped her knee, desperately trying to catch her break. "Haha… ha… yeah… I can see her do that, honestly." Stop laughing woman, my misery's enough for today. "So, you going home, right?"

"Yeah, duh." I rolled my eyes again. Can this woman get even more obvious? "Why, you offering me a ride home?"

"Heh, yeah right." She chuckled, taking a sip from her mug again. "The school will have my head if they see me and a male student together inside a car after school." She sighed. "Still, you reminded me, a little birdy told me that you're spending more time with you club mates lately… one of them in particular."

I raised an eyebrow. "What are you trying to say here?"

"Oh, nothing, just… surprise, really." Hiratsuka-sensei chuckled. "Did she go there herself?"

"…if this is the same person we're talkin' about then no." I shook her head, answering sensei's question. "She asked me if she could come and see the damn thing herself and I said, sure why not." Shrugging, I then added, "And she came, she had to miss out most of the event, but, she still came."

"Hm…" I don't like the look you're giving me, sensei. "I see. Then, you can leave now. Be careful on your way back."

Shrugging, I picked up my back from her desk and left.

On my way out, my phone buzzed.

Delaying my step, I paused. With obvious hesitation, I picked it up, without even looking at the caller.

"Hello?"

" _Ah, Uzumaki-kun, you on your way home?"_

… "Haruno-san." My voice was contained. "Why the sudden call?"

I hear amused giggling from the other end of the line. _"Oh, nothing. Just checking in to see how my favorite blonde hunk is doing. Ehehehe~."_

"I'm not your **favorite blonde hunk** , Haruno-san." My voice tasted like good medicine.

" _Ah, that's right, you're my_ _ **only**_ _blonde hunk."_

This woman was insufferable. Regardless, I'd be lame if I lost my cool right here. "So, why are you calling me, for real?"

" _Oh, right."_ So you did have a reason calling me… _"I just want to direct a proper thank you for the payment that your company gave me."_

That got me real quick. "Wait, they paid you? Why?"

I heard more giggling. _"To be honest, I didn't know myself!"_ her tone was awfully chipper. _"I already told them that it was okay and that I was doing a favor for you… but they insisted, and the business woman inside of me couldn't just refuse it."_

Well that was hilarious. Snorting, I crossed my arm where I stood. "You damned capitalist…"

" _Ah, ah, ah."_ What's with that mock scolding tone, huh? I'm not a kid. _"I consider myself a natural hedonist."_ She paused, humorously. _"Well, aren't we all natural hedonists inside?"_

…true. I couldn't deny human greed as being one of the major aspect and flaw of humanity, so I mere shrugged. "Sure. So, why are you telling me this?"

" _I was planning on calling your company, or Tanaka-san herself specifically, but I decided that it would be better to have you relay the message for me."_ I heard more giggling.

"Oooor you just don't want to have anything more to do with them." I countered without missing a beat.

" _Aaww, it's no fun if you say it like that. Ufufufu. In any case, Uzumaki-kun, please offer my thanks to the people from your publishing company."_ Hey, for once, she actually sounded glad and thankful. _"Bye, bye~!"_

"Right, bye."

Huh… who would've thought that I'd end a school day with a phone call from Yukinoshita Haruno herself?

Am I lucky or what?

…

…nah.

* * *

"Naruto, have you decided on a partner yet for the upcoming project?"

I do not mind getting school projects, in fact, I find them to be very helpful at making sure that I won't get swallowed up by work and the shit that Tanaka-san always gives me. They are my escape from the monotonous and repetitive cycle of work and authorship, and I'd rather do a one thousand word narrative writing assignment than having to come up with a plot for another story arc.

Ah, speaking of which, I'm currently on hiatus, so I won't be writing anything Icha Icha related. Breaking out the news in social media wasn't easy, seeing the number of flames I received, but I think it's reasonable.

Anyway, I have to hold my book checking for a while just to pay attention to Saika. He is asking me about the narrative writing assignment given to us by Hiratsuka-sensei. I don't know why she makes it as a paired assignment, maybe she'll have less papers to check, so that can be a plausible reason. Like an assembly line, I rearranged my activity.

I start by answering Saika's question. "Nah, haven't choose anyone yet." Then, I resume with my book checking. "What about you?"

"I'm the same." What? You haven't received any pairing requests yet? That's strange… "What about it, Naruto? Want to partner up with me?"

I pause my book checking again, taking several quick seconds to consider Saika's offer. I nod, smiling. "Sure." Saika has above than average grades when it comes to literature, I've seen his work and he's consistent too. "Let's discuss about this while eating, speaking of which, did you make that bento that you brought yesterday yourself or…"

"Ah, I made it myself." as I thought, not only he's reliable, he's also independent. Role model right here. "Mom helped me pack it, because I'm not that good at garnishing… ehehe…"

Yeah, I can totally relate with that. Garnishing is hard, especially if you don't have visual artistic sense like me. Best chance is just to make it look abstract and sprinkle whatever green garnish on the middle.

"Let's just eat inside." I said to Saika. "It'll save us time rather than having to walk to club…"

"Oh, but aren't you going to eat with the rest of the Service Club?"

I waved my hand, dismissing Saika's worry. "Yukinoshita has accounting and science assignments to do and Yui's busy with her clique." I told him.

"Eeeh…" is that awe in his voice? "You're really close to them, aren't you, Naruto?"

I blinked. "Well, uh, I guess? We are in the same club… and we do our assignments there from time to time so I guess it's normally for me to pick these things up, right?"

Saika shakes his head. "No, I think it's more than that." I've never heard Saika speak with such conviction before. As if he's disagreeing with me. "Even with the tennis club members, whom I can I say I have a fairly close connection with, we don't usually talk or meet much less eat lunch during recess together like you and your club does occasionally. We're… like strangers. Close, but strangers."

As I opened my lunch box, I couldn't help but snort in amusement. "Aren't we all strangers? Friends… brother… sister… mom… dad… these terms are words that we use to classify people that aren't, well, us. They're close, yes, but the only one closest to us is ourselves."

Hm, I probably shouldn't have been so philosophical there… Saika's gone quiet now. I was gonna keep my mouth shut and let the atmosphere do its work in breaking the silence, but a small set of laughter from Saika's mouth surprises me. Like who has just heard a good joke, Saika wipes the tear that escapes his eyes.

"That was probably the truest and the falsest statement I have ever heard from you, Naruto."

…wut?

Pulling out his own lunch, Saika is undoubtedly ignoring my shocked expression. He opens the lid of his lunchbox gracefully, still ignorant of my expression.

"If we aren't close to them then, we wouldn't have even bothered creating a specific term for those people you consider 'strangers', right?" Saika smiles, but somehow, some ways I can't quite explain, his smile is… different. Empty. Not Sai's level of empty but… dare I say, it's more worrying. "We give name to the things we consider significant, I think we learn this during one of Hiratsuka-sensei's 'extra lessons', but that doesn't mean we ignore the things we don't consider important either."

I paused, I'm seriously contemplating right now.

"Still," I started. "We have less attachment or we consider unimportant things as less significant when compared to the things we actually consider important." Hell, they're synonyms for god's sake. "At the end of the day, what's more important is us alone… because if we don't care about ourselves then… how could we care about others?"

"That's exactly it." Saika giggles.

"Huh?"

"We care about ourselves because we care about the people around us." Saika says with a hint of laughter. "It's funny how it works, huh?"

We care about ourselves… because we care about those around us…

…huh…? That… actually makes sense.

We _care_ about how we look because people judge us based on them.

We _care_ about our odor because people pick up on it and comment on it.

We _care_ about our goal because people want to compare ours with theirs.

It's a full circle.

…right?

Then what happens if we stop caring? Does that mean we stop caring entirely or is it some sort of one way deal? If we stop caring about ourselves, then does that mean we've stopped caring about others? If we stop caring about others then does that mean we no longer care about their assessment of us?

I noticed my own state of quietness, completely drowned in the noisy and mundane chattering of a high school classroom during recess period. Saika has dug into his food, contently munching on some gyoza. My own bento remains unopened, untouched, discarded…

Then, I snapped back to my full senses.

Regaining my bearings, I picked up my eating utensils and then dig into my food.

Well, so much for not being philosophical… but as far as writing assignments go, I guess this'll be a breeze.

* * *

"Maki, me and Yukinon are gonna go and visit a pet café downtown. You wanna join us?"

Hm… I just couldn't shake off the conversation I had with Saika earlier during recess. His reply and words got me thinking, which is strange since I try not to think about things other than ramen, my books, the service club or anything work related. His claim on the concept of caring, of it being a chain of reaction that circles around and, ultimately, both end up and leads to ourselves.

I… know I shouldn't give this too much thought, but, I just can't help it.

"Maki, heeeey~ are you ignoring me?"

See, I'm so deep in thought I even have a legitimate excuse to use as a reason for Yui now. "Sorry, I was thinking." I said quickly. "You said you're gonna go and visit a pet café, right?" she nods. "Sure, I'll go with you."

Yui smiles. "Great! I'll go text Yukinon then!"

While she's doing that, my thought resumes right at where it left earlier.

Saika… looks like there's more to him than just being a completely beautiful boy and an incredible tennis player. I'm supposed to be the one with the longest life here, yet I'm the one who's learning. How ironic, isn't it? Still, I felt no shame. In fact, I'm… glad. It makes me feel glad because I'm not deluding myself as being an entity of eternal life span whose sole purpose is to live his cursed life repeating the same damn thing over and over and over and over again every century or so.

I… still can learn…

I… I… I'm still alive.

"Maki, I texted Yukinon, let's go meet he-… Ma…ki?"

Something wet trickled down my cheek.

Tears.

"Ma…ki…? Are you okay…?"

I cannot afford to look shocked, so, I laughed it off.

"Sorry, I just remembered a very funny joke I ended up letting out a few tears." Obviously a lie right there, but, meh. Finally, I wiped the tears, quickly reducing suspicion. "Let's go and meet our club president, wouldn't want to keep the princess waiting on us, eh?"

"U-Um…! Right, let's go!"

Looks like I fooled her. Thank God for nice girls…

The two of us make our way to the school's gate. There are other students exiting the school, seeing as how it's already dismissal time and there're no club activities for the day, the school let everyone out earlier than usual. On our way there, I felt strangely refreshed. Just imagine the sensation of brushing your teeth and then letting the minty fresh sensation of toothpaste dominate your mouth after gargling a cup filled with mouthwash.

Yes, that refreshing.

"Yuigahama-san, Uzumaki-kun." Yukinoshita seems anxious. Ah, is this because we're going to a pet café? Just imagine all the cute cates she's gonna pet… "Let us depart at once."

Daym, I know you're excited to see some kitties, but you don't have to be that excited. "Why? So eager to feed some friskies to the kitties?" yes, pun is damn right intended.

Yukinoshita's face flushed red, akin to the color of a Chinese lantern lamp. "S-So what if I am, huh?"

Yui, being the middle (wo)man, literally gets in between us, saying, "Ahahaha, I wanna see some cute dogs too, Yukinon, so you're not the only one." With that said, we begin walking, making our way out of the school's compound and into the streets where there are also several other Soubou High students lingering about, moseying their way home.

Hm, I have to make sure though. "They do serve human food, right?"

Yukinoshita and Yui give me weird looks. But it is Yui who's more vocal on voicing her opinion. "Of course they do!"

I glared at her playfully. "Well sorry for not visiting these kinds'a place often. Sorry for having an actual cat at home. Sorry that I'm not some sort of cat maniac who'd go out of his way and play with ten or twenty kittens in some probably overpriced pet café."

I can feel a very cold glare being directed at me. "Ara, I can feel a very strong urge to hit you after hearing you say that last remark, Uzumaki-kun. I wonder why?"

I gave her a Cheshire grin (see wut I did dar?). "Gee, I wonder why?"

"E-Eh, what are you guys talking about?" of course, Yui's intellectually challenged to follow with our subtle conversations.

"Nothing Yui."

"It's nothing, Yuigahama-san."

"M-Mooou! The two of you are so mean!"

We had that joke earlier, a few scenes above, so stop.

Finally, after a long walk, a fairly short train ride, and another long walk from the station, we finally arrived at our destination.

…but the place's freaking closed.

"Well," I started bitterly, "I think we can all agree that we should never let Yui plan for any future events that might involve us going somewhere."

"Agreed." Unsurprisingly, Yukinoshita agrees with me instantly. Wow, looks like she's really looking forward to pet some puss-I mean kitties.

"I-I'm so sorry guys! I searched online earlier and they said that it only opens on Weekends on Weekdays!" Yui blurts out apologetically, her face extremely red to prove her embarrassment and guilt.

"Only you can mix those two words up, Yui."

"H-Hey! That's mean Maki!"

"…"

"A-And I'm very sorry Yukinon! I'll make it up to you later, some way or another, I promise!"

No use blaming the ditz, looks like we'll just have to settle for Dog, my cat.

Seeing Yui trying so hard to appease the disappointed and crestfallen Yukinoshita is as amusing as watching those dolphin shows that they show on Sea World. It's amusing at first, but it's gradually getting boring. I offered them the alternative of seeing my cat, which is in Komachi's house, instead since the café's closed.

Thankfully, that managed to lift Yukinoshita's spirits up a bit. Yui's glad too, probably because she gets to think of ways to appease with Yukinoshita. So, we immediately set out to Komachi's house.

Of course, I had to call the owner of the house… or at least the one who's currently watching the house.

"Komachi?"

 _"Ah, Onii-chan, what's up?"_

"Don't what's up me…" I scolded her. "Anyway, I'm visiting and I-"

 _"Really? Great! I'll go make dinner then!"_

"Ah, if you don't mind, can you… also make two more servings?"

 _"Why? You want to get fat, Onii-chan?"_

"No, you little bugger, listen to me." damn this kid. "Yui and Yukinoshita are visiting. And… they'll be having dinner at home."

No reply. Wait, what? Komachi? "Komachi? Hello? Are you okay?"

 _"…that's…"_ wait, don't tell me that she's not okay with Yui and Yukinoshita visiting? She was okay with Yui letting Sable stay at her house during summer…

 _"That's… that's…"_

Hm?

 _"THAT'S GREAT ONII-CHAN!"_

Whoa! I had to hold on the train's railing so that I won't fall from the surprise of hearing Komachi's sudden outburst form the other end of the line. Yui and Yukinoshita are giving me weird looks, so are several other people in the train, but I pay them no mind.

"Oi, don't shout!" I hissed into the phone. "You made me embarrass myself!"

 _"Sorry, ehehe, I'll go make dinner then! It should be ready when you come here, if not, then you'll help me either way. Bye Onii-chan, come here quick, okay?"_ aaaand she cuts the line.

I pocketed my phone back inside my blazer, sighing.

"What's wrong?" Yukinoshita asks, tilting her head slightly to the left. "Is everything fine? Are we intruding after all?"

"No, it's fine." I said to them reassuringly. "Komachi's just being dramatic…" First world Onii-chan problems, I don't expect you to understand, Yukinoshita, much less Yui.

The three of us are standing together, grabbing onto the same piece of railing, side by side and shoulders touching due to how crowded the train is. It's the time of the day when people usually return home from work, unless you're Tanaka-san who gets to go home in her own car after a tiring three hours' worth of overtime. I'm standing in the middle, a bad place. Why? It's because I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place. If I stumble or something, either Yukinoshita or Yui are gonna accuse me of molesting them. Knowing them, they'll gonna use it as some sort of leverage on me in the future. Great.

We're facing the door, thankfully, and that'll make our task of getting out of his human-sized sardine can easier.

"Ne, ne, Maki." Yui's words are soft, she's whispering.

"What?" of course, I returned her call with an equal volume output.

"That's… that's Sai-chan isn't it?"

"Eh?" what?

So, after we reached the station, we managed to confirm that it is Saika after all.

"Ahahaha, who would've thought that we'd meet outside of school?"

After catching up with the shorter boy, we called out to him and this conversation resulted from that. As usual, Saika's in his green tracksuit. He's not carrying any tennis bag or anything, aside from the bag he normally uses to put his books.

"Ah, where are you going, Sai-chan?" Yui asks. "Your home's not in this part of town, right?"

"I'm meeting my family here in the station." He announces cheerfully, sharing with us his radiant smile. "We're going to spend the evening together with my grandparents who are in town right now!"

Aww, isn't he cute when he's happy. When's the last time I get to see Komachi like this?

"Eeeh? Is that so, must be nice for you huh, Sai-chan?"

"Yeah!"

…my kokoro can't take enough of this.

"What about you guys?" now it's his turn to ask questions. "What are the three of you doing together? Ah, is this some sort of Service Club post-club activities?"

It is Yukinoshita who answers in our stead. "No it isn't. We were about to head to a pet café that Yuigahama-san recommended, but due to a certain somebody's blunder, the place is closed today, so we're going to Uzumaki-kun's house as an alternative."

"Geez, I'm sorry, Yukinon! I told you I'll make it up to you!"

"Correction, Yukinoshita, it isn't my house. It's Komachi's house."

"Hm, what the oaf just said."

Oi!

"…pft… ahaha! The dynamics between the three of you is just as fresh as ever, huh?" Saika is smiling even wider after laughing, and I thought he couldn't look happier. Then, we hear buzzing, at the same time, Saika reaches into his tracksuit top's pocket. "Ah, looks like my dad's calling me, I gotta go now!"

"Un! See ya later Sai-chan! Have fun!" Yui's not holding back. She waves her arm, even if the guy is still here.

"See you tomorrow at school, Totsuka-san." Yukinoshita is, as expected, way more contained. Offering a small encouraging nod, instead of something expressive like Yui's gesture.

"Stay safe Saika." I smiled, extending an arm towards him. "And thank you for today."

His eyes light up for reasons I cannot explain, but he does not hesitate to grab my hand, shake it fervently, while smiling. "You're welcome, Naruto!"

…they say the guy upstairs does not play dice… but this is so damn unfair! Why can't Saika be a girl?! Oh why God, why?!

Finally, Saika leaves. But not before waving one last time. The three of us waved back, naturally, but as soon as Saika's out of view, the insults come rushing in.

"Uwaah, that was so creepy Maki…"

"It seems that I was right to be concerned about Totsuka-san's safety. Who knows what a wild beast like you would to do to him."

…I regret bringing them already.

* * *

 **Sorry if it's shorter than usual guys, but my brain's processing power isn't as good as it was before due to the constant shit that's been clogging inside. This chapter marks the end of the omake chapters, meaning that I'll be back into hiatus until I can go back to a more consistent writing period. I'll try to keep up, but don't expect me to post anything in the next week or the week after that… or the week after that week…**

 **In any case, the hiatus will be resumed.**

 **I'm sure that a lot of you are put off by this, so if you decided to drop this fic, it's completely understandable. Yeah. I'll promise you this though, in three months or so, you can expect a very consistent update from me. I promise you that. I'm not saying it here now, but we'll cross that bridge when we need to.**

 **So, to those who have been supporting this story from the very beginning, I can only offer you my sincerest thanks and gratitude. The most I can do for you guys is to update more consistently and frequently… something that I can't really do until two months or three months later.**

 **Being a student and part time worker ain't easy… especially if you only have four hours of sleep every weekdays before you have to wake up and attend lectures. I need to get a better life.**

 **With that said, I'm dragging this thing for too long now, thank you and please have a nice day or night!**


	18. Of Charms and Chances

**I have returned.**

 **Don't wanna bore you guys, read on and I'll talk at the end of the chapter.**

* * *

Relationships, most of the times, are like gravity.

It's a phenomenon in which two or more things are brought toward one another; a completely natural phenomenon that happens every day in our daily lives. Eventually, the one with the strongest pull will attract more nearby orbiting satellites towards their center mass. Familiar? Yeah, you've probably seen something like that in the classroom or workplace. Don't be weirded out; it'd be weirder if you don't. Now these people that have a very strong gravitational pull are what I have called 'Alphas'.

They are capable of attracting the attention, maybe even more than that, of the 'moons' or other 'satellite' bodies around them just by their presence. Imagine that, having people flock around you, being around you, talking to you just because you exist. Surely, the attention is enviable. These 'Alphas' are actually a category of people who sits at the top of the social hierarchy. In a way, imagine them as being the apex predator – meaning the top predator that preys on other secondary predators – who sits on top of the food chain that you learn during Biology in fifth grade…

…unless you completely flunked fifth grade or any form of lower education… then I guess you can consider them as that one popular guy that everyone likes.

In any case, these people have this mind boggling ability of attracting all manner of people around them that it's almost ridiculous. And as someone who's had the early years of his life living under the shadow of a very pretentious asshole prick who had a ten foot long pole stuffed inside his ass and who also happened to be the prince charming of his school, I can definitely confirm the sheer ridiculousness of it. I mean, seriously, the guy didn't even have to act nice for people to like him.

What the fucking fuck?

Ignore that part, anyway, yes, these people are… scary. They are undeniably natural born leaders that can potentially be scary just due to how charismatic and influential they are to the common folks. As per social norm has shown and implicitly stated, it is only natural to give these Alphas the respect they deserve. Because society is the way it is, we – the common folks – are supposed to bow down our lowly heads to these monarchs. We're mere peasants working on their fields while they enjoy the fruits of our labor. We reap the crops and they eat them. We plant the fields but they profited from it. We work the bones but they're the ones who get to rest.

Now let me ask you, is that fair?

A sensible person with his mind on the right place would definitely say, 'No! It's not fair!'

A smart, realistic and wise person would say, 'The world is unfair. Deal with it.'

But I'll say:

Fuck the world. You do you.

* * *

Ever wonder what happened to that one kid who always sits at far left corner of the class? Suddenly, you stop seeing him or even hear about him. This guy, he's not exactly the type to make friends. He doesn't hang around, he never joins in on conversations and he always rejects invitations whenever you and your friend try to invite him to the arcade. You and your mates gave up, thinking,

' _Well fine, let'im be alone for the rest of the school year then.'_ Or something like that…

Then, one day, when you and your friends don't even bother with him anymore, all of you stop seeing him. Even during lectures, during breaks, during PE… heck, he ain't even there during recess. The normally unknown, ghost-like presence of that kid you gave up on is suddenly noticed by the rest of your classmates. Your class started talking about his disappearance. Your other friends from other classes. Your whole batch. Then finally, the whole school starts talking.

Rumors begin to sprout up. Some says he dropped out. Some says the school expelled him.

Finally, after many days of baseless rumors spreading like wildfire, the news is revealed.

One short word, but a sentence for eternity:

Suicide.

You're shocked. Your classmates are shocked. Suddenly, you feel pity. An emotion that you've never felt before for the kid who hung himself to death. Class is dismissed early, you arrived home, lay down on your bed to think. And then you realized you don't even know his name. During the funeral, you see his body encased in a black cubical casket with the lid off. You see his face. Pale. Lifeless. Quiet. You place the lily down inside his casket before returning to your seat.

The priest gives the departed soul his last rites then, you and your friends are dismissed. As you walk home from the funeral, you feel something inside your chest. It's strange to you. Alien. A sensation you have never felt before. You're… scared.

But above all, you felt remorse and regret.

Ten years later, you find yourself sitting in front of your computer, making spreadsheets on Excel with bloodshot eyes and only in your boxers. You take a small break from work, removing your eyes from the screen and let them rest for a brief while. Suddenly, you begin reminiscing the past. What about that boy. Who that boy was. What you did. What you did not do. Then, you sigh. You pull one out and begin inhaling nicotine, hoping that things could've been different.

But then you're grimly reminded that things… can't be different… not anymore.

You finish your smoke break, then throw the filter into the ashtray and return to work. Your mind re-consumed with work, the memory of that time silently tip-toes back to its place on the very back of your mind, hiding, until it can surface once more when self-wallowing and depression kicks in. Later that night, you call your fiancée and tell her you love her before saying goodnight. Then, you sleep, dreamlessly.

The next day, you wake up to another morning that is just as unbearable as the one yesterday.

At that point, you're no longer thinking about that boy no more.

* * *

"Are you… Uzumaki-kun?"

This… _girl.._.

I can take jokes. As a joker and the cause of ninety percent of mischief that happened back then in Konoha, I've been at the receiving end of other people's… tomfoolery myself. But that's fair, since – most of the times – I was the one who started the prank first. I can tolerate humor, be it dark or controversial, and I can still tolerate them now.

But when it comes to trading insults and bites, the hard headed and brash persona in me will sometimes resurface and take over. So when Yukinoshita pretends she has never seen me, I can't help but feel irritated. But I've been around jerks for almost my entire life, hell, I'm one myself, so this isn't something that will really bother me.

"No, it's Patrick." I deadpan. "It's me, Naruto. Now get that pretty little butt of yours up from the chair and let's go."

I ignore the mild glare she sends my way while watching her slender form rises up from the chair she's been sitting on for the past thirty minutes or so. Like the ever so graceful and dignified lady she is, she takes a moment to dust the airborne dust particles that have been gathering on her person while she was asleep and I can't help but feel like she's trying to show off her deliciously long, slender legs at me.

Yeah, I have a rather particular kink.

The cat stretches her upper limbs upward, stretching to give life back to her bones which have been resting earlier. She lets out a cute little yawn, her soft – but nonetheless intimidating – blue eyes blink with a butterfly-like grace as they register the everyday picturesque scene of the desolate clubroom around us carefully. Calmly, now awake, she brushes several loose strands of hair that have gone disheveled due to her less than proper sleeping posture on the table. Obviously, I can't do anything other than wait for her to finish, so I might as well enjoy the sight of a flower blooming after a long – well, it's not night – rest.

Now, she's ready to grace the world – or at least school – with her stoic elegance. But unlike most people in this school, I'm one of the few people who know what those eyes truly search for, what those lips are capable of saying and what that kind of ideas that that mind is capable of thinking of. Yukinoshita Yukino is a girl who searches for meaning to her actions, her lips are capable of delivering onslaught of words that will make most men tremble and within her mind lies careful planning and ambitious schemes.

I see a person I can come to respect and consider close.

But even with that, I cannot deny her flaws.

"…-zumaki-kun, have your ears rotted along with that brain of yours to a point where they cannot register words spoken through a sound medium?"

Yeah, I really can't deny them.

Sighing, I give her a roll of my eyes. I guess her sharp tongue is a part of her charm too. That or I'm turning into a masochist quick. Hopefully not the latter. "Whatever prez, let's go, Hiratsuka-sensei and the others are waiting."

She acts like she's surprised for some reason. "Oh, have I garnered enough respect from you for you to call me by my rightful title?"

The only rightful title you have is Ice Queen.

"Yeah, sure."

But hey, at least she's smiling.

* * *

Morning classes are a chore. No one can deny that. Unless you're a preppy goody two shoes who goes to school for the sake of actually going to school and studying. This is the 21st Century, our generation of kids are supposed to be smarter yet lazier at the same time. Anyway, morning classes are a chore because, well, they take place in the morning. As someone with a full-time author profession, I experience sleepless nights almost every time and that really drags down my motivation into the abyss. Especially in this time of the month, they want me to start coming up with a storyline for the newest Icha Icha installation.

So, please, don't stare at the bags under my eyes like that. Thank you.

Today, morning class is mathematics. And being a student in my second year of high school, we're dealing with advanced statistics. Not that I'm complaining or anything but I can see why teenagers these days are stressed out. Basically, as time progresses, so does the difficulty of their curriculum. Though this may not hold true for most schools, this is what I'm currently experiencing here at the moment as I'm doing my pop quiz. Oh yeah, another reason why today already sucks: pop quiz. But as far as difficulty goes, this one ain't so bad, though I'm sure it isn't exactly fair since I've been seeing these types of questions for more than two decades.

The class is quiet, everyone too immersed in their pop quiz… well, almost everyone. I'm basically sitting here doing the quiz while doing this monologue, those who've given up are not even bothering touching their pencils anymore and those who are done with their quiz are either sleeping or waiting it out by dozing off through the slow passage of time. Yui… she's the former, as in, she's not even touching her pencil anymore. I'm willing to bet she skipped number eight, because that question is tricky as hell. Hiratsuka-sensei is carefully watching over us from her seat way up front. She's been giving me longer stares than the others, much to my displeasure.

It's good and all that a beautiful woman's taking her precious time to look at me, but when it's a woman with the tendency to get violent, the impression isn't as great.

Sighing, I'm finally finished with this test. I should do well. Oh yeah, Hiratsuka-sensei's not our math teacher, but she's substituting for him. It's normal for homeroom teachers to do that, especially when they're free during morning classes. The short hand of the clock has just struck nine, while the long one strikes ten. Ten more minutes until dismissal, so, one can say that I have a little bit of surplus time in my hands. This makes for a perfect time to come up with the new character that I've been wanting to introduce in my story.

So as I am busying myself with Icha Icha related stuffs, time passes and the bell rings loudly, waking up those who were sleeping and bringing a sense of relief to those who were stuck with their quiz. We pass our papers forward, so that the unlucky git in front can collect them. After passing the papers of the people behind me – and my own paper – forward, I began stretching my resting limbs, rejuvenating them back to life after their slumber. I hate it when my legs fall asleep on me, especially after workout.

"Alright… next period is Biology…" and we're probably going to have another pop quiz, knowing our Biology teacher. Packing my books into my bag, I'm fairly amazed at how quickly the atmosphere and scenery around me change. It was as if someone was holding their funeral during class, but now, everything and everyone is so lively that you can bring back the aforementioned dead person back to life just by opening the casket and letting the noise take over the room.

Especially Hayama's group at the back, there. Like rightful monarchs, they're making the loudest noise yet none dares saying anything to them. Well, it's not like they're disturbing anyone other than me here…

"Yahallo Maki!"

And now, I'm officially disturbed. And stupefied.

Glancing at the pink haired girl who has unrightfully intruded my personal space, I hold back the irresistible urge to drop down and play dead just so this bubbly bimbo can leave me be. "Hello Yui. What's up?" still, I have to return her approach.

"Nothing." She says. "Say Maki, you're going to club after school, right?" if you're gonna continue speaking after that then it is not 'nothing', Yui. Your precious Yukinon will be disappointed to see an inconsistency in speech like that.

I nod my head in a dismissing manner, but I won't count on Yui to figure this out. "Of course I'll be there. I need to do something work related and the club room's just a perfect place for that." It seems that the school's becoming more and more like an office rather than an institute of education. Well, it is technically both.

"Mou… you shouldn't be spending most of your club session doing work! There are club activities to do and people to help!" I say this many times, but I admire her enthusiasm. But sadly, her enthusiasm is just that, enthusiasm.

"Hm, but I really can't help it, Yui." I try reasoning with her, if there's any reason to do so in the first place. "I'm busy this time of the month and the company's getting even more unreasonable with deadlines." I have to say this: I'm not the only one suffering from this change of routine.

Apparently, the publishing company I work for thinks that it's a good idea to decentralize authority this time of the month. This is a bad move because most of Japan's creative industries – anime, manga, light novels and even doujin publishers – are starting to increase in activity as compared to earlier months. This means that lower manage, with their newly given authority, will have to come up with new work incentives and delegations within their own ranks as opposed to upper management who'll only mostly do overseer duty for the lower management. And due to that, us authors will have to cooperate with lower management by working with a shorter deadline. Picture it like this, I usually have a six months deadline period, but now, I only have three. Half of what I'm used to.

Whew… that's quite a rant there…

"-ne, Maki! You're dozing off there!"

Ah, it seems that I've ignored the puppy for too long. You're not a rabbit, you won't die when I'm not giving you any attention, Yui.

"Sorry, I just have a lot in my mind." I sigh out. "What was it, Yui?"

She doesn't give me an immediate answer, instead, a look of guilt surfaces on her face, causing her to advert her eyes from me and to the ground, all the while poking her fingers together in a very familiar gesture. "A-Am I disturbing you, Maki? Can you really come to the club later if you're so busy with work?"

…Yui really know how to guilt trip people.

I resist the urge to make a mess out of her hair like I would usually do to Komachi when she's asking too much unnecessary questions. But I happen to be aware of the time and place I'm currently in so that's something I want done not anytime soon. But I'll have to admit, the urge to do that is strong.

Very strong.

"No you're not disturbing me, Yui." I say to her with a calmer and more likable voice. Being sleepy makes me grouchy. "And I told you, I'll come to club later." I allow a smirk to form on my face. "I can't miss a day of club activity with our _precious_ club president, now can I?"

In another classroom, Yukinoshita Yukino nearly trips.

Back with us, Yui seems to have missed the joke. "Moou, Maki, you shouldn't talk bad about Yukinon. She's really trying right now. In fact, she's been opening up to us more than before!" I watch as a megawatt smile form upon her lips. There are a lot of contagious things in this world, and Yui's smile is one of them. "So, we gotta be happy for her, yeah?"

Chuckling, I can't say I don't like the sound of that. The Service Club, despite our flaws and shortcomings, has become our home. I don't know if it means much to Yui and Yukinoshita as much as it means to me, but for a guy who's constantly forced to change through the passage of time, it actually means something. For once, I don't feel like I'm completely alone. In fact, I think I've been involving myself with other people a little bit too much over the past few weeks. It doesn't have to be Yui and Yukinoshita, there are also other people that I have managed to get to know.

"Whatever you say, Yui." I sigh, ending the conversation there. "Go and take your seat, your friends over there look like they want to talk to you."

I give the blonde haired chick who's been spying on our conversation a wink, much to her surprise and embarrassment.

The inner sadist in me chuckles in delight.

"Alright. Let's talk again later during club, Maki!" she waves her pretty little hand at me, causing me to do the same. Just like that, Yui returns to her flock of friends, and I can already hear her laughing from my seat. As expected, Yuigahama Yui is a nice girl.

While she is no 'Alpha', one cannot deny her ability to make the people she interacts with stick together like glue. Yes, I suppose that's right. Yuigahama Yui is like an adhesive that keeps people together, even if they are completely different people with different ways of doing things. Let's take me and our resident Ice Queen as an example. I'll come out and admit it; if it wasn't for Yui coming up to us with that baking request all the way from chapter tw-I mean back then, Yukinoshita and I may not be as close as we are now. Even now, I still consider the fact that there's a steep cliff that separates and lengthens our distance.

Yui may not be smart, but they didn't consider me to be the smartest of the bunch either. Look how that turn out?

"Hello, Naruto!"

I'm beginning to get used to how cheerful my silver haired classmate can be. Dressed in his trademark tracksuit and matching green short pants, Saika hops over to my seat with a wide smile on his face. Blinking several time, I wash off the feeling of sleep that is beginning to drag me back to the realms of slumber. Saika's talking to me, stop telling me to sleep, brain.

"Yo, Saika. What's up?"

"About the upcoming school trip to Kyoto…" this is where it gets a little bit confusing for me…

Kyoto?

"…say, Naruto, have you joined a group yet?"

Eh… hm, there has to be some sort of misunderstand. I thought we are going to Hokkaido, not Kyoto… oh well, looks like I'll have to plan a beach trip in the far future. Still… getting to sightsee in Kyoto ain't a really bad idea, I've been there several times to a point where I'm familiar with the locals, but I'm just expecting a beach trip or something similar. I mean, if we're going balls deep and consider this as a rom-com installment, it has got to have a beach episode or at least scene. Oh well, looks like there's nothing I can do here.

"Yeah, I have." Sadly. "What about you, Saika?"

"Ehehe…" he makes this adorable sheepish look that triggers my big bro instincts. "Well… I haven't joined any group yet… and I was hoping that I could… maybe… join yours?"

It's like I'm watching some sort of confession scene through cupid's eyes. Saika is radiating so much pink that I'm afraid that the guys around me – and me myself – are going to fall for him. Thankfully, I'm blessed with a lot of mental fortitude and physical endurance that will put a certain Berserker-class heroic spirit to shame, so, I manage to refrain from doing things that I will eventually regret later on.

"Sure, if you don't mind bunking in with… four other guys or so."

"Hahaha, I'm a boy too, so I don't think that'll be a problem."

Oh yeah, I forget.

"Well, anyway, we'll talk about this later." At the same time as our conversation is about to end, the teacher for our next class enters the room. Casually, Saika lean towards me, lips inches away from my left earlobe. "See you at lunch." And then, the kid prances back to his seat.

"…I really need to have a word with his parents…"

That kind of habit will definitely attract the wrong kind of people, Saika!

* * *

I've come to enjoy the small things in life.

Whether it's something as trivial as the rice I eat during lunch or the right temperature of water during evening baths… I've come to enjoy these things for what they are. But there are also things in life that I can never get tired of enjoying. And that is drinking a cup of well brewed tea while working on a manuscript and dealing with a very unreasonable deadline at the same time. I think I've mentioned this before, but the club room is becoming less and less of a club room for me and more and more of a workplace. You can't blame me for thinking like that because, I mean, with the lack of requests we've been experiencing... there is nothing much we can do during club hours.

Currently, our club president and tea expert has just finished brewing a fresh batch of leaves for us to enjoy. She's just finished pouring some into Yui's mug… and right now, she's pouring some into my disposable paper cup.

…don't know if it's just me, but… I feel sad looking at that paper cup.

"Here you go, Uzumaki-kun." She places the cup filled with warm tea near my space of the table.

Clicking away on my keyboard, I can't spare a second to look at her as I offer her my thanks. "Thank you." I'm at a very important part at the moment, and if I stop writing here, I'll lose my muse and motivation. My fingers are clicking away on the keyboard, making clickety-clack noises that fill the room. It's safe to say, with the lack of complaints I've yet to receive, that my fellow club mates are perfectly fine with me causing such an irritating noise.

"Uzumaki-kun, drink your tea before it gets too cold." It's not an imperative, but I feel bad if I don't immediately drink the tea that she's brewed for us.

"Wait a moment, I'm almost done here." The first chapter is almost done, so please be patient. "Alright, there." Whew. Now, I get to enjoy my tea. Picking up the plain paper cup from the table, I hold it close to mouth. Instinctively, I take a whiff of the soothing herbal scent that the liquid is radiating. Instantly, the stress that's been piling up in me has been seemingly lessened. Slowly, I sip down the contents, until there's naught a single drop left. "This is good."

"Right?" Yui agrees with me. Looks like she's been silently enjoying her tea, what a surprise. "Ne, ne, Maki, what do you think about the upcoming Kyoto trip?"

Placing the now empty cup back down on the table, I return to my work while answering Yui's question at the same time. "If I have to be honest here, I'd rather if we go somewhere with beaches. I wanna feel the wind and enjoy fruit cocktails while relaxing under the sun." I'm just being blunt at this point.

"Right?!" again, our pink haired club member agrees with me, this time her enthusiasm is double what it is before. "Okinawa is, like, a totally nice spot for a trip!"

"Hm, I was thinking more along the lines of Southeast Asia."

"Ah, you're right! It's, like, always sunny and warm there!"

"Kyoto is also a prominent tourism hotspot." Our Ice Queen interjects, joining in on our conversation. "You can learn more about and experience Japan's cultural heritage over there. Not to mention, there are a lot of interesting places to visit."

"Well, she isn't wrong about that, Yui." I say, pausing momentarily to speak. "But I'm sure that we all know Kyoto for their shrines, Kansai dialect speaking people, more shrines and the former capital of Japan." Actually, if I remember my history right, Japan's capital changes quite often back then. Oh, their names used to change too.

Taking off my eyes off the screen of my laptop, I give Yui a suspicious glare. "You do know these things, right?"

"Geez, Maki, of course I know! Mooou…"

"In any case, that's a rather crude way of describing Kyoto, Uzumaki-kun." Yukinoshita is… scolding me? "Merely stereotyping like that proves your lack of knowledge about that place." Wow, she's really confident in saying that.

"If I have to say, I know Kyoto quite well." I've been there quite a lot of time, after all. In fact, feudal Japan back then was quite the experience.

"Oh? Then I assume you're at least aware of what I mean when I said historical tourism hotspots in Kyoto?" of course, she'll take this as a challenge, as per her competitive nature. Fuck, now I have to play her game.

"Let's see…" I pause my writing entirely, taking time to recall the places. "There's the Kyo-o-gokoku ji, Fushimi Inari Taisha, Kiyomizu dera, Rokuon ji, Jisho ji and the Kyoto Imperial Palace." Since we're sticking with the historical theme here, I refrained from mentioning modern places.

"Oh, looks like you know some of them." Oi, that was more than just 'some'.

"Rokuon… Shoji…?"

"Don't combine them like that, they sound like really cool shounen protagonist names." Looks like she's not literate after all, then again, this is Yui we're talking about.

"As far as historical sights go, Uzumaki-kun got it covered. However, there are also interesting places that provides commercial entertainment."

Then, Yukinoshita starts a twenty minute rant explaining the commercial importance of Kyoto to Japan's economy while implementing the importance of tourism for Japan.

This is the Service Club, not the Business Club. Knowing this school, I won't be surprised if there is a Business Club in the first place.

Anyway, by the time she's done, the sky is already a heavenly mix between purple and orange; like a very abstract painting of tangerine peels littered all over a field of lavender flowers.

"Whoa… you sure know so much, Yukinon…"

As expected of Yukipedia, the offline free and sarcastic as fuck encyclopedia.

Stretching my fingers after twenty minutes of continuous typing while listening to Yukinoshita's… useful information about a particular city in the Kansai region, I'm beginning to feel parched, which is weird because I didn't speak at all.

"This is within the realms of common knowledge, Yuigahama-san, something that you must know too."

"Moou… Yukinon, you're being mean too…"

"I think that what you've just said goes beyond the realms of common knowledge, Yukinoshita. In fact, it looks like you got too interested in the trip and did some research on your own." The moment I see her face light up like fireworks during a Tanabata festival, I know I am right. "See Yui, Yukinon's just too excited for the trip~"

"Eeeh?! Waah! That's so cute Yukinon!"

"Y-You… the both of you…" the tables have been turned woman. Now you know what it feels like to be ganged up on!

On second thought, ignore that last statement; that sounds so wrong.

With her face being the equivalent of a freshly picked ripe tomato from an Italian farmer's backyard garden, it's safe to say that we've managed to make the Ice Queen embarrassed. See, in a situation where people feel intense emotion – be it anger, embarrassment, sadness or even fear – they can do either one or two things.

One, they run away and flee from the situation…

Or two: they approach and act impulsively based on their inner desire to make things feel better regardless of how careless their action is.

…surprisingly, Yukinoshita does the second thing.

Quickly standing up from her seat, causing her chair to rattle from the movement, she stares at me with shrunken pupils and an extremely red face. Both Yui and I stare at her, watching as if a volcano's about to explode. And we aren't that far off. The volcano known as Yukinoshita Yukino is about to explode… in a flurry of impulsive one sided fury fueled by her embarrassment.

" _U-U-U-Uzumaki-kun!"_

Oh shi-

"Uwaaah Yukinon!"

Like an agitated feline creature, Yukinoshita lunges at me with speed that even I am not aware of. Wait, if I remember correctly, she used to do martial arts, right? Fucking great! I manage to receive the impact of her lunge straight on and not fall backwards, otherwise it'll be bad for the both of us. However, with my paper cup littered on the fall – thankfully Yui manages to grab onto hers before Yukino flies through the air – and her landing on my chest, beating on it with her two small fists, makes for a rather… risqué picture.

Yukinoshita, Yukinoshita, you're breaking character girl!

"Y-Y-Yukinon, w-what's wrong?"

"You…! You…!" Ow, ow, ow, ow. It doesn't hurt, but something tells me that I have to look the part.

Yui joins in the fray, trying to pry off the ferocious kitten from my chest.

"Oi Yukinoshita, let go already, if people come in, they'll misundersta-"

Aaaaand of course, as Murphy's Law dictates, what can go wrong **will** go wrong.

"Hello, excuse ussssss…"

Hayama Hayato's eyes have never been so widely opened. I'm not being racist here but it's my first time seeing him this surprised. I've seen him angry and have had the pleasure of being at the receiving end of that anger during a particular roof scene, but this is the first time I've seen him showing a blatant display of surprise, as if his porcelain mask of being the perfect guy has slipped off for a while.

"Whaddit I tell ya, bro?! I know that Uzuki-kun's a total chick magnet, I mean look, he even has Yuigahama and Yukinoshita-san all over him! Literally!" Oi Tobi, or Tobe, whatever your name is, stop being so loud.

So Hayama does not come here alone. He has his friend with him, Tobe.

"Ahahaha…" mister nice guy lets out an awkward laugh, rubbing the back of his head with his fingers. "Looks like we came in at a bad time. We'll come ba-

"No, wait, Hayato-kun, this is a mistake!" Yui is screaming, her face as red as her hair with her hands up in the air as if she's been caught stealing a Southeast Asian farmer's chicken.

Yukinoshita's response, however, is delayed. We all watch as she slowly withdraws from me, no longer clutching to my shirt and causing wrinkles on it. She has her face facing downwards, and we can all see the slight shaking of her shoulders. But instantly, she lifts her head, showing a very straight face that is very reminiscent to a… eh… rock. Slowly, she cranes her head to the two newcomers who are still standing by the door.

"The both of you did not see anything."

"Wai-"

"You did not see anything."

"But-"

" **Nothing."**

"Yes." Wow, that's scary, even for me.

Sighing, my club president has returned from being an agitated cat back to her ruthless Ice Queen persona. Crossing her arms, she glares at the two newcomers. "Now, I assume that you are here to talk, if so, please come in."

Hayama, who is now unsure, looks at Tobe. "Tobe, I think it's better if we just-" oh, he gets cut again, hah!

"Nah, dude." The normally carefree idiot looks uncannily nervous, as if he's actually thinking for once. "I gotta do this, bro, and Uzuki-kun's a total pro at this, so I gotta tell'em!"

Wait, what? I'm a pro at what, exactly?

I give Hayama a questioning look, but he can only return an apologetic one. Sighing, I sit back down on my chair, preparing myself for a very long talk.

* * *

"Eh, really!?"

Yui, sit down girl.

"Yeah, well, it's… yeah."

Wow, I know it's obvious but damn son, I never know that it'd be this obvious. You see, there are two things to fear in life: fear itself and an idiot in love.

But you should fear the latter the most.

Why? Because idiots in love will drag around people around them like us, the Service Club, here. But this is a request and our job's to assist people with those requests of theirs. I have no problem dealing with a high school boy's puppy love problem, but it'll be a great if people remember that this is the Service Club, not the Cupid Club.

Again, I won't be surprised if a club like that exists somewhere in a high school in Japan.

"Wow, that's great Tobechii!" Yui is on cloud nine. It's cute seeing her excited and all, but I'm not really sure if we should help with something personal as a person's love life directly. We have received requests for love advice, but never something that will make us involve ourselves directly. So, it's no surprise that Yukinoshita's being all hesitant about this. The girl's pulling out a Freddy with all that chin rubbing she's doing.

"Yeah, it's like that." Hayama sighs out, but he maintains his smile. "Tobe plans on confessing to Hina during the Kyoto trip, but he told me that he can't do it himself. So, we decided to bring this matter to the Service Club."

"We're happy that you consider us reliable enough to bring a matter such as this to our attention… but don't you think it's kind of, I don't know, useless if you don't do everything yourself?" I ask, closing my laptop completely. I'll continue working later when I'm at Komachi's house.

"But I just can't do it myself, man." Tobe sighs, looking blue. "I-I'm normally a very chill guy-" you're too chill, "-but when it comes to this thing, I-I get cold feet, like, instantly!" then, he looks at me with a very strange mixture of jealousy and… admiration. "I ain't a love master like you, Uzuki-kun."

I raise my hand.

"Hold on." My voice comes out small, too surprised to handle. "Love master?" I repeat the words in my mouth, testing it as it rolls off my tongue. "What's with that retarded ass name?" I demand with a straight voice. I'm too tired to be shocked, yet at the same time, I'm shocked.

"It's just, you're always around girls, dude. There was this one time when a group of freshman girls come up to you, I also heard that you're kinda close with Kawasaki-san from our class, you're in the Service Club with Yukinoshita-san and Yui and not to mention, you actually got Sagami to almost confess to you!" he pauses. "But for some reason, Hayato won't tell me the rest about that last part."

"Ahem, Tobe." Hayama coughs loudly, a faint hint of pink dusting his cheeks. You ass, I still remember that kick you gave me.

After hearing Tobe's explanation, I cannot refrain myself from pinching my temples from all the irritation that's been piling up. Though I can't physically age, I still feel like I'm getting older and more miserable whenever I hear stupid shit being spewed out of people's mouth. Sighing loudly, I aim to clear things a few things up.

"Look… what makes you think that I'm a 'Love Master' from just those?" when did I graduate with a master's degree in Love and Everything Sweet?

"S-So Maki… you're not denying that Sagamin actually tried c-confessing to you…?"

Ugh… if I have to explain everything, then I'll have to reveal the fact that Sagami actually did try to confess to me. So, I decide to pull a Kakashi-sensei and be cryptic as fuck. "I'm not denying nor confirming anything, Yui." She looks sad, but she'll have to bear with it.

"Well, it's just that, you're surrounded by chicks, Uzuki-kun!" Tobe says exasperatedly. "So you gotta be some sort of Love Master or somethin', right?"

I don't even…

…nor do I odd, before you smartasses decide to say anything else.

"Look, Tobe, just…" I hesitate. I actually hesitate on speaking. "Just… let's get to your situation, mmkay?" I look at Yukinoshita. "Oi prez, you don't mind if we help the guy out, right? I feel sorrier for him than Zaimokuza whenever you roast him and his books." That's actually saying something.

"Can we, Yukinon, can we? Can we?"

As expected, with the skillful persuasion from Yuriga-I mean… Yuigahama, our president has no choice but to accept the request. "Very well, we will assist Kakeru Tobe-kun with his romance."

Yui and Tobe cheers at the same time, Hayama laughs awkwardly, Yukinoshita returns to reading her book, while I'm just sitting here thinking what about dinner later.

* * *

So, today is tomorrow and yesterday has passed. It's houkago – it's weeb for after school – and we, along with Tobe, are inside the Service Club's headquarters discussing about our plan to make Tobe's confession a success. I ain't gonna sugarcoat anything, I mean it's obvious. The guy's chance of getting rejected is at a point where it'll make Vegeta crush his scouter since it's over nine thousand. I don't need Byakugan to see through this rollercoaster thrill ride to see the what's on the other side of the park. It's gonna be hard and it's going to be damn troublesome for us.

"So," our club president begins talking, "let us start with the very basic. Let's start with your good points."

…

…

…

…

"I'm Hayato's friend?"

"You're relying on others already?!" nice tsukkomi, Yui. tfw when the dummy gets to play the straight man.

Yukinoshita is in deep thought and I can already feel bad vibes coming out of her. "He's… noisy… loud… no, brash… rambunctious… ah, he's bothersome?" Oi, please hold back a little. I know the truth is there, but let yourself be blind to it even for a second. Seeing as we're already at a seemingly dead end right at the very start, I don't think we're going to come to an agreement.

In other words, we're not getting anywhere, dammit.

Sighing, I can only wonder how long we'll have to be here in the club room dealing with Tobe and his puppy love for that four eyed fujoshi. Clearly, I'm not the only one who thinks that this is now beginning to be a major waste of time.

I rotate my head towards Yui's direction. "Okay, change of plans." Let's at least attempt to change things before giving up.

"Already!?" yeah, already.

"Let's forget about looking for Tobe's good points and focus on Ebina's taste instead." it's all about tackling from a different angle.

"Oh, good idea." I don't really think so myself.

Meanwhile, Yukinoshita is still thinking. I wonder what's going through her brain right now, probably something related to cat videos or just cats in general. God help us if it's true.

"So, since we are trying this approach; Yuigahama-san, I believe that you're at least knowledgeable about Ebina-san's taste in men?"

That gets Yui and I thinking.

Yaoi. Gay men playing 'hide the pole', thin doujinshi and nosebleeds come to mind. Then, as we go deeper into uncovering the open, shameless BL maniac that is Ebina Hina, we're already too deep into thinking. Before things can get any worse for both me and Yui, I speak up.

"Okay, we… got a clear idea about Ebina's taste." I look at Tobe, who is still smiling expectantly like a puppy, and feel guilty instantly. I feel sorry too for the bastard. "But let's just confirm to make things clear."

"Right." Yukinoshita nods, approving my choice. "Yuigahama-san, what does Ebina-san thinks of Tobe-kun?"

"Eeeh…" well, that's basically a sign already. "Well… she thinks that he's… eh… nice, I guess?"

gg Tobe.

When a girl says or thinks that a guy's 'nice', it means that she can only care less about him. I've watched too many animes and read too much mangas to know what kind of opinion that Ebina has about Tobe.

Tobe, however, remains oblivious. "That's good enough for me! It's positive!"

Excuse me, but I would like to point out that the only thing's that positive is your mind. In fact, it's way too positive! The more oblivious he is, the more painful it'll be when the blow is dealt. I've seen, both in real life and in media, the damage of rejection and what it can do to people.

One part of me doesn't want this kid to go through that kind of pain, but the other part of me kind of wants him to learn and experience it all by himself.

Closing my eyes and opening them shortly afterwards, they trail towards my laptop. Hm, I gotta finish the manuscript, otherwise Tanaka-san will have my ass later…

...manuscript…

Wait, that's it!

I smile and I can confidently say that it's a cocky one. "I have an idea."

Those four words are like magnets attracting everyone's, focused and iron-like attention. I rummage through my bag, pulling out a familiar orange book that elicits less-than-agreeable reactions from Yui and Yukinoshita. Tobe, however, is still clueless.

And you call yourself a guy, dude?! C'mon dude, even Hayama knows about Icha Icha, I think.

"M-Maki! Why are you pulling that thing out?! In fact, are you even allowed to bring it to school?!" Shuddup Yui.

"I know that business is important, Uzumaki-kun. But know that there is always a time and place to do things like promotion."

Rolling my eyes, I ignore Yukinoshita's opinion on what to do. "No, you two, if I want to promote this book then I would've done so earlier during P.E in the boy's locker room." I'd get more sales there than here. I shake my head. "The thing is, I think we can use several… scenes in my earlier books to make Tobe's confession a success."

"But… wouldn't you know what to do, Maki?" Yui asks, her head tilted to the side. "You did write those books, after all."

"Smart question and deduction, Gahama-chan."

"Moou, don't call me that!"

"The thing is, the first few books were written by my godfather." I say casually. "Since he's no longer alive and present to bug the hell out of me for not applying his 'Make Out' tactics in real life, I think that it'll be a good idea to refer to some of his earlier works for Tobe's situation."

Even after all explanation, I'm still not off the heat. "Believe it or not, not everything is smut in the first few books." the extreme contents start at the end of the second book onwards anyway. "It is a Make Out tactics, after all." Based on Jiraiya's experience and fantasy.

But mostly the latter.

Still skeptical, I see. I immediately flip through the book's pages in order to find a particular scene in which I'm familiar with. "Look, there's this one scene where the main protagonist tries to serenade the love of his life who happens to be a princess."

"Ooh! That sounds romantic!" Looks like this approach is working. "What happens next?"

"He tried, tried and tried; to a point where the princess got tired and decided to be with him out of pity."

"Rejected Maki! That's no good!"

"Well, how about this: the protagonist meets a very beautiful geisha who has a lot of experience with men. Despite his own lack of experience, he strives to get to know her and succeeds in doing so!"

"Then, what happens next, Uzumaki-kun?"

"Oh, the geisha got executed by her husband because he caught her cheating on him with the main protagonist."

"No! Why are those stories so dark?! What kind of man was your godfather?"

I see no reason to lie about this. "A shameless super pervert." who also happened to be one of the most powerful shinobi in existence.

"S-So quick!" You're really embracing your role as the dumb tsukkomi, aren't you, Yui? "Still, no! Nu-uh!"

The way she forms an 'X' with her arms and how she times the shaking of her head with the two syllables is really cute. Reminds me of the time when I try to eat Komachi's favorite pudding.

"Alright, fine. But let's just at least refer to some of the things in this book, yeah? Since we're going to Kyoto, it really fits well with the… feudal theme that this book has." feudal Japan is really reminiscent of my time back then.

"Ooh! As expected of Love Master Uzuki-kun, even your godfather is an experienced lover!"

More like an experienced pervert.

Regardless of whatever Tobe's opinion about Jiraiya is, I still think that using Icha Icha as source material for Tobe's love dilemma is not entirely a bad idea. I mean, if we're talking about bad ideas, asking people like us for love advice is already a bad move on its own, right?

After a few more words from us, Tobe exits the club room with high expectation of success. He probably won't be able to sleep properly for the next two days, considering that the trip is then. However, it seems that trouble does not come alone.

It comes in pair.

Three knocks land on the door of the room, confusing us greatly. Looking at Yukinoshita's and Yui's expression, I assume that the three of us come to the same conclusion of Tobe being our last and only client for the day. However, we're proven wrong as Ebina Hina lets herself into the room with a quirky smile on her face, her eyeglasses gleaming evidently.

"Hallo hallo!"

"Yahallo~!" it seems that this is how most high school girls greet nowadays. I say most because there's no way in hell that Yukinoshita does this shit. "Hina-chan, what are you doing here?"

"Ah, you see…" oh, she's acting all shy and all that. "I actually…"

"Yeah, yeah?!" Yui, your excitement is showing again. "What is it?!"

"I… I…"

Could it actually be tru-

"I WANNA SEE HAYATO-KUN AND UZUKI-KUN REENACT THE YURI AND VICTOR KISS SCENE FROM YURI ON ICE!"

-uuuuuee… of course not, why would it be true?

Glancing at the currently fangirling… girl, I can only sigh as she shows no sign of stopping. I probably said this before but you gotta admire her for being able to openly share her hobbies. I look at Yui, who is frozen solid like some sort of statue in an art museum. Looks like the shock and disappointment is too much for her to handle.

"Uh…" so the confusion settles in again. "Hina-chan?"

The bespectacled girl giggles, placing her hands on the table before she elaborates the reason for her sudden outburst and blatant display of rottenness. "You know how Hayato-kun or Tobecchi's been talking to Uzuki-kun lately? Letting themselves lose in the heat of conversations and all that? Slurp..!"

Uwaah… she just sucks back her drool! And she's looking at me now!

"You see, Uzuki-kun, if you're gonna bait guys, you better bait all of them at the same time!" Yeah, no. "You should take them all in."

You see, I'm not gay nor am I trying to 'bait' guys and nor do I have the intention to 'take them all in'.

"To cut to the chase, I want you to be a subottom!"

What the fuck!? I have to be the bottom-bitch too?! What the hell woman?!

"No way, ain't happening."

Her ruthless fantasy has irked the ire of our club president, who has been keeping quiet to herself this whole time, presumably dealing with the growing irritation previously mentioned.

"So, what are you trying to say?" though she's far from breaking, I can tell that her patience is running thin. Just don't jump on her like you did me, Yukinoshita.

On second thought…

Nah, I'll have my catfights _outside_ and _dirty_.

The playful indication on Ebina's face has disappeared, replaced by uncertainty. "I… get the feeling that things have changed in our group."

"Hey, come on." Yui starts reassuringly. "Guys have their own hard things to deal with in friendships and stuff."

That I can confirm.

"Could they be dealing with their _hard_ things together? Stop that, Yui. Too lewd."

That… I cannot confirm.

Quickly turning to me, Yui asks, "Wait, did I say something wrong?"

"No, it's not you who's wrong. Don't worry about it." It's this chick's brain and way of thinking that's wrong.

Smiling, a rather sad one I might add, Ebina rubs her elbow in a very frail manner. At that moment, I can sense that this is in fact a serious matter we're dealing it.

"Seriously though, things aren't the same anymore, and I don't like it." Ebina says. "I want everyone to be like they were before." Then, she quickly looks at me, raising a finger, as well as slipping off her mask of sadness. "Oh, but I like that you're getting along with us, Uzuki-kun!"

Well no shit. You're basically using my less then acceptable social life as fantasy. I should charge you for that.

Instead of continuing her earlier speech, however, she immediately stands on her feet, dusts off her skirt and looks like she's aiming for the door. "Well, I'm expecting a feast during the school trip, okay?"

Why are you looking at me?

"Especially from you, Uzuki-kun."

I… don't like the way that message is conveyed.

We see her walking off chirpily to the door, muttering incoherent BL terminologies on the way there. But before she's about to leave, she turns around, winks at me and waves her small hands at our direction.

"Don't let me down, Uzuki-kun!"

Silence rises through the room, and it seems that it will remain here until someone finally breaks it off. Thankfully, we have our quick thinking club president to do that.

"What was that all about?"

"Don't ask me." I sigh. Lifting up my tea cup, I bring it close to my mouth. "Well, anyway, we just have to make sure that they get along, right?"

"Yeah." Yui pauses, resuming again with a question. "Say, Maki, how do guys become buddies anyway?"

…

"Well…" I place the cup down, cancelling my earlier desire to drink from it.

"They… start off roughly by having one of the two hating the other's guts, then they argue over which one of them's the best, then they fight till the other surrenders, repeat process two and three and then, finally, a few years later, they're the best of friends."

As expected, I'm returned with confused looks from my female club mates.

"Eeeh… guys are weird."

Yeah. We were weird.

* * *

And so, here we are, inside the bullet train and on our merry way to Osaka Prefecture or Kyoto to be more specific. The ride won't take that long, considering the fact that we are riding a bullet train to get there, but the fact that I'm travelling with other people who will most likely interact with me, time won't pass by me that easily.

"There we go. Yumiko, let's sit here."

"Right!"

Yui is over with her clique, playing her role as cupid a little bit too enthusiastically. It's great seeing her so willing on helping her friend confess to the girl he likes, but does she has to be so obvious about it.

"Yumiko, we sit here! Hayato-kun you over there and Saki-chan, you sit here in front of me!" Oh… looks like your plan has been thwarted, Yui.

With their new seating arrangement decided, Saika and I decide to occupy the empty back seats. No surprise, these kids would want to sit in front and near the window. Saika too apparently, since he asked me if he can have the window seat earlier. The all around atmosphere of the train is getting lively, but not as noisy as I imagine it to be. There are still constant outburst of noises mind you, but not to a point where I'm annoyed by it. Honestly speaking, I'm more sleepy than annoyed.

"Naru…to…"

Aaaand the gir-I mean guy next to me is already playing sleeping beauty, quite literally too if I have to say. Saying someone's name while sleeping is NG, Saika! Looking around me, it seems that everyone's occupied with whatever is that they could do to pass the time. Most of them are talking, but there also quite a few of us who're sleeping. Hayama's group, though, are still chatting. Wow, just how excited are these kids for this trip?

Closing my eyes, I think that I'll catch myself a quick sleep... yeah, that sounds nice.

…

"Ne, Makiii… listen to thiiiis…"

Goddamit, there goes my quick sleep, oh well.

Sighing, I lift a pair of sleepy eyes to see Yui who's taken the empty seat next to mine, on the other aisle. "What is it, Yui? Any progress on our resident lover boy?" I ask with a small hint of sass.

"No." the pink haired girl sitting on the other aisle beside me groans out in frustration. "Things are not going as planned. Hina-chan rearranged the sitting order I had in mind, with Kawasaki-san there Tobecchi can't speak his mind."

"Well that's a surprise."

"Moou, stop being mean Maki."

Hey I'm not being mean, I'm just honestly surprised. Is Kawasaki really that scary? "Well, in any case, it seems like there's nothing we can do about it while on the train." I say helplessly. "Unless you want me to interfere directly and tell the spineless git to man up and shove his tongue into glasses' throat."

"Eew! Maki that's gross!"

"Hah?" I look at her with an expression of someone who's just heard the sound of a man choking on a pigeon. "You've probably done it too for all I know!"

"W-What?! N-No! I've never done something so shameless like that!"

"Then you'll probably do it with your future boyfriend or something." Gee, what is she, twelve?

"M-Mooou!"

Yui's amusing and cute reactions to my teasing aside, it seems that we have an eavesdropper who's been listening in to our entire conversation. "Is this about Tobe-kun?"

"Oh, Sai-chan!" Yui looks surprised and worried for a second. What's wrong, was Saika not supposed to know about this? "You heard that?"

"Yeah." He chuckles softly, eyes still glistening after a restful sleep. "But we already know that way before during our summer trip to Chiba Village, right, Naruto?"

"We did?"

"Maki!"

"What? You can't blame me for not wanting to know unimportant and pointless things such as Tobe's love life." I say bluntly with a deadpan look at my pink haired classmate.

"But you're supposed to pick up on things like that Maki." I don't know why your tone took on a scolding edge, but I don't like it, woman. You're not my mom or Tanaka-san. Only those two can scold me. "Your friend's love life is as important as breakfast."

Hm, that's actually a pretty good analogy there. "But we weren't exactly friends back then, Yui." I say as a matter of factly. "In fact, I don't think we're friends now." I don't wanna be too buddy-buddy with a guy who's crush is someone who lives off the fantasy of his friendship with other boys around him.

"O-Oh…"

…now making that startled and sad expression is just unfair.

Thankfully, Saika brings us out of the topic of conversation by bringing out a mountain-sized topic to engage in.

Literally.

"Hey, look, it's Fuji-san!"

"Where, where!" like an excited puppy, Yuigahama ignores every concept of personal space that has ever existed in the existence of mortal life and rushes in over to our side of the seat. She's squishing her… womanly parts against my shoulder, forcing me to rely on the train's interior walls for support. I think that I'm used to Yui's… carelessness at this point that I pretty much don't care if she's pressing her tatas against me or something like that, as long as I know that she's not doing it on purpose and we're alone like this.

"Oh yeah, look! Maki, it's so big!"

Yeah, they're _big_ alright…

After a full minute of admiring the still and unmoving geographical structure that is Mount Fuji, Yui finally realizes what she's doing and latches off from me like I'm a hot Soviet waffle iron from the sixties. "S-Sorry Maki!"

Still leaning on the wall, I smirk. "Don't worry, I wasn't complaining."

"Wha-!? H-Hmph!"

Seeing her face turn pink then bright red is amusing on its own, but to see her huff and stomp off like an embarrassed child that's been caught eating their booger in public is even more amusing.

"Hehehe… what a kid…"

"A-Ano… Naruto…" hm? What's wro-

-ooooooh. Hm… I really need to pay attention to my surroundings more. It seems that, somehow, I've ended in a 'kabedon' position with Saika. No it's nothing sensual or like that, it's just… damn. This is pretty embarrassing.

"Hahaha, your face is red, Naruto!"

…shuddup.

* * *

"Ah, Kyoto... I feel old for some reason."

It's probably due to the fact that this place contains most of Japan's important historical conservation landmarks. I can definitely say it again at any other place that makes me feel nostalgic, but for the sake of myself and this story... I'll do it now.

"Hm, what are you doing muttering all by yourself, Maki?" oh yeah, she's been standing next to me after we got off the train. "Quick, let's go and find Yukinon so that we can think of plans for Tobe-kun's confession to Hina-chan!"

Without asking for my permission, nor does she even bother looking at me, Yui drags me off - along with my luggage - towards where her buddies are at.

We manage to regroup with Hayama and Co, but El Presidente is nowhere to be seen. Looks like her class left already... damn International Education students and the special privileges they get... ignore my short rant there, but she's still nowhere to be found.

Oh well, looks like we'll have to regroup later when we reach our first destination.

Kiyomizu dera temple.

Now there ain't much to say about this place other than the fact that it's a pretty popular tourist hotspot in the area. I won't even bother stating the history about the temple because they literally give you tours around the damn complex about it, unless you're a cheapskate tourist who didn't pay for tour package for your travel.

Please don't do that. Go and pay extra money for tours, you'll help the local community and certainly won't regret the decision.

Speaking of tourist, the place is practically brimming with the lot of them. Be it local or foreign tourist, we can see a lot of people forming straight lines, wearing similar colored hats and horde-sized crowds occupying the entrance earlier. I still think that this place is peaceful, despite the bustling activities that occur in it.

"Ne, ne, Maki!" Like a certain annoying fairy that a certain green-wearing elf travels with, Yui's voice pierces my ear while snapping my rail of thoughts like a piece of driftwood twig altogether.

Spinning on my heels, I turn to face her. "What is it?"

"What do you mean, 'what is it'? We're going to go and act out our plan right now!" again, she grabs my arm without warning, but this time, I've kinda expected her to do it. "Let's go."

While Yui drags me around like I'm some sort of luggage - speaking of luggage, we've kept ours inside the bus - I take my time observing the location we're at. We're near the main temple, there are several benches around us and the trees are just as I need them to be.

Thankfully, Yui has dragged me to a very likable location. Taking out my phone, I began taking pictures. This will certainly be a nice reference to use for the next Icha Icha installment, I'll have to unincorporate the modern themes though, to suit the feudal setting that the book has going on.

"Look, Maki!"

Turning around, I see the entrance to Zuigudo Hall in its dark and abysmal glory. Pocketing my phone back inside, I get the feeling that I'm gonna enter that place.

"Guys, let's go there!" See, I was right. "Let's do it in pairs." Oh, looks like Yui's upping her game. "Hayato and Yumiko go first. The two of us will go last!"

Before I proceed, let me tell you that I'm with the company of five other human being from the same class. Yui is with me, Hayama and his not-so-secret admirer is here to and finally, we have the probably-to-be couples themselves with us here. Since I'm paired with Yui, it means Tobe and Ebina will be paired. Looks like she's going to let darkness do the rest.

"Yui." Whispering, I make sure that tone is low enough so that only the both of us can hear this conversation.

"What is it?" Seeing my hint, Yui response in equal volume.

"Don't wait for me if I lag behind."

"W-Why?"

"I... I... I need to crap."

"..."

"...Yui?"

"...Hayato-kun, Yumiko can go now. Hina and Tobe can go."

"What about you, Yuigahama?" Hayama asks the uncannily quiet girl.

"We'll go last."

"Sure." Don't look at me, man. "Let's go, Yumiko, Tobe, Hina."

"Ou! Let's go bro!"

The four of them leave us behind. I watch as their backs disappear into the darkness, consumed by the descending stairways that leads underground. Meanwhile, I'm standing here with a very strange Yui.

"Yui, what's wrong?" for some reason, I don't feel like taking a shit anymore.

Yui doesn't answer me. Okay, now I'm worried.

"Yui?" I ask again.

This time, however, she answers me. Looking up, I see a pair of shivering eyes and a pouty lips, and within those eyes, I'm seeing a heavy 'I AM DISAPPOINT' look.

"Maki you poopyhead!"

Then she slapped me.

* * *

"...I just wanna take a dump..."

"Hmph!"

...after rightfully slapping me, we've finally joined the others. It seems that the darkness is a challenge for them if they haven't travelled far enough after all that waiting. There are ropes on the sidelines, and the guy in front told us to hold on to them so that we won't get lost. The thing is, we're not allowed to turn on our cell phones inside, cuz it won't be immersive... probably.

"Whoa! It's totes dark in here! It's, like, maximum dark!" That idiot Tobe what is he doing?

"Isn't it?"

After a bit of walking, we've finally reached the center of this long dark hall. How do I know it's the center? Well, there's supposed to be this big stone located at the center of this hall. And we're looking at said stone at the moment. Tobe and his crush has advanced further, looks like they're eager to join Hayama.

So, naturally, that leaves me and Yui behind.

"If you turn this stone and make a wish, it'll come true." I'm not surprised that Yui knows about this. She gives off the impression of someone who would, you know? "Have you decided on a wish?"

"Hm." Okay, might as well try this. Hey, it ain't no Holy Grail or any other wish granting device, but hey, even the cake was a lie.

With our combined efforts, we managed to turn the stone. They didn't tell us about any specific angle or rotation or how long we should turn this time, so, we just go with whatever.

I hear to resounding claps coming from beside me.

No, it's not Hide and Clap.

And for the record, that movie _sucks_.

Looking at Yui, it seems that she's into this wishing business a little too much, too much to a point where she's treating it like some sort of turnable yet immovable shrine or something.

But I have to say, whatever wish she wished for better come true, because with how sincere and serene her expression was when she prayed, it'll be a waste if it doesn't come true.

"Done?"

That catch me off guard by a little bit. "Sure, let's go."

"Good. Alrighty, let's get going then!"

"Oi, stop pushing me woman!"

* * *

Right now, we're near at the shrine grounds. The number of people here seems to be less when compared to the place before, but it's to be expected, there ain't much to do here other than purchasing fortune slips and other shrine trinkets.

Naturally, we draw several fortune slips of our own.

"Aww... I got bad luck..." Oho, looks like our female heroine of the day isn't as lucky as we thought she'd be.

"Hey don't worry." Oh, here comes mister steal your fujoshi! "Think about it like this, now, the only way is up!" not bad, so, why is he asking us for help again?

You know what, this is getting kinda interesting for me too, since I've been picking up a lot of potential research material to refer to for my story. Walking towards the boy, making sure I do so quietly, I slip to his side.

"Psst."

"Hm?"

"Apparently, the higher you tie them, the better the fortune works." But since Ebina drew out bad luck... I don't know what'll happen.

After hearing my suggestion, Tobe gives me a smile and thumbs up reminiscent of a certain green wearing and bowl haired duo.

I watch, and I believe Yui is too, as Tobe swoops in to take Ebina's fortune slip and then hanging it at the tallest section of the hanger with the aid of his superior height. Looking at Yui, I can only chuckly dryly at her reaction. Seriously, just how bad does she ship these two?

"Say, Maki, when are you going to implement that strategy of yours?"

"Oh, that?" I raised an eyebrow, glancing down at Yui to meet her eyes. "Nah, I decide to scrap that. Tobe seems to be doing well by himself, looks like our work will be minimal." At least, until the confession itself.

"U-Um... but when the confession begins..." Ah, looks like she's thinking about the same thing.

"Look, we'll worry about that later. The future is still unclear, and even if his chance of getting rejected is high, doesn't mean that we can't do anything to minimize that chance, right?"

"Yeah, you're right." That's an awfully bright smile you have there, Yui. "Oh, look, those are the fountains! They say that you'll succeed in love if you drink from them!"

Really? No wonder there're a lot of people queuing here! I turn my head towards the fountain. Oh, look, there are more than one fountain. Oh look, a woman's trying to hog all of the fountain water for herself.

.

.

.

...wait, what are you doing Hiratsuka-sensei?!

Shortly later, after the combined efforts of three grown men to stop the desperate school teacher from hogging all the fountain water to herself, it's finally our turn to see what's this romancing waterfall is all about. For the record, I just want to say that I'm not detecting anything unordinary from the waterfall, other than the fact that it's just water. What I find unordinary is the fact that people actually drink from these. Now I know it's drinkable and fresh, but... c'mon man, you have water bottles filled with water. So, watching Yui nonchalantly drink the water straight from the dipper she used to pick it up makes me a little bit... ew.

"Here you go, Maki!"

I don't know...

"Yui, how often do you do... this kind of thing?" I ask, still not taking my eyes off the dipper.

Blinking, she looks at me with a pair of confused eyes. "Hm, what do you mean? You mean drinking the water at this waterfall? Hmm..." she begins thinking. "I've been here several times before during middle school and I've drank from the same place too... what's wrong?"

"Nothing." I sigh, looks like I have to be straightforward with this girl. "Yui, you do realize that other people drink from that same dipper, right?" I say a little too bluntly while pointing at the thing.

"Eh?" like a Chihuahua whose master has just taken its food bowl away, Yui looks back and forth between me and good ol' mister dipper there. Instead of turning bright red, her face turns a sickly green. "EEEEWW!"

I can't help but laugh. "Well done, took you more than two years to notice you airhead! Hahaha!"

"Maki you jerk! Dummy! Meanie!"

I find pleasure in her misfortune. With a little bit, a lot, of effort, I manage to let my laughter die down to appropriate volume. "Haaah... it's okay, you won't get herpes... probably."

Ow, she smacked me!

"Jerk..." I was not aware that tomatoes can speak? Anyway, I should probably stop teasing her now, a Yuigahama can break too, you knoooow?

The morning trip turned out to be a rather one-sided tourism activity, with us students mostly following tour guides as they – obviously – guide us and educate us about the things that we unfortunately had to jot down due to the book report that is due after the trip is over. It was boring, but thankfully, writing those information made things less boring.

…

Oh who am I kidding with, it was boring as hell. End of story.

* * *

"...stupid piece of shit machine..."

And this vending machine not dispensing the drink I ordered is beginning to piss me off. Thankfully, after a few 'soft' tap from yours truly, the Pepsi I ordered is finally dispensed into the gathering bin at the bottom of the machine. Bending down, I pick up my drink and wastes no time to screw the lid off from the bottle.

Man, those Pepsi ads weren't lying. These things are like liquid Snickers bars.

"Aah..." Don't usually drink soda, but I just took a bath. I need the sugar and fizziness of this drink to get my brain working. I'd settle for a Yukinoshita(TM) tea, but, it seems that I do not have the luxury of meeting the person at all today, much less drinking her home brewed tea. Dropping my body on a nearby couch, I think that I'll just unwind until it's curfew. My room's one heck of a sausage fest and I ain't looking forward to be a part of that.

Though I know someone will...

Oh, by the way, speaking of excellent teas... it seems that I may just get to drink some tonight. Why? Because there she is, the tea brewer herself, El club Presidente herself, Yukinoshita Yukino, who is currently browsing around the souvenir stores for some... derpy eyed... stuffed panda... plushies... yes.

What the fuck? Is her taste in plushies as bad as her attitude?

It seems that me looking at her too much has caused the 'Creepo-stare Detector' that she and all women in the world posses to go off, because she's now looking at me. But instead of an immediate glare or something similar, she looks around first, making sure that no one else from our school is within the vicinity. Then, she walks several steps away from the shop, towards the exit, before turning on her heels and then proceeding to mosey over to my location as if what has transpired for the past ten minutes didn't happen at all.

I must say again, Yukinoshita in casual wear is really refreshing.

As she approaches, the scent of subtle, yet smellable aromatic hits my olfactory organ, becoming more and more evident with each steps Yukinoshita takes towards my general direction. Her hair, gleaming slightly underneath the bright indoor lobby lights and the fact that is tied in an updo, is enough proof for me to believe that she's just recently taken her bath. The guys bathe first, then the girls. There are no 'outdoor onsen' or any 'mixed bathing' section in this place, so get your imagination checked you filthy weebs.

"Ara, Uzumaki-kun, what a surprise seeing you here." She stops several feet away from me, her face stoic but I'm not a fool to miss the threat she's trying to convey through her eyes.

"Oi, we're gonna pretend that earlier didn't happen?" I ask dryly. Seriously, this girl can be very unreasonable.

"What's wrong? Did you run away because things are getting uncomfortable in your room?" And she's already trying to insult me, wow. Hmm, I'm game Yukinoshita, let's play.

"Spot on." I raise a thumb with one hand, while the other one is holding my Pepsi bottle. "There're too many guys in my room, so, yeah it got a little bit too uncomfortable."

"Oh? Is it not due to your lack of social prowess and incapability of relating to other males that caused you to leave your room?"

"...no." I say lamely before taking a sip of Pepsi. "But, I can definitely say, a hundred percent sure that is indeed the case for you."

Boom. Headshot. Gimme my AWPs.

Instead of returning my verbal jab with a her own spit of fire, she merely sighs. That can either mean I was spot on in guessing her reason being here or she's too tired to be bothered with jokes. I scoot a little bit to the right, allowing her to sit on the now empty spot left to me.

"The girls in my room are becoming unbearable." From that kind of tone, I can only imagine. "Why do females engage in such a pointless and bothersome activity? Love talk? Pillow talk?"

"Either they're your enemy or ally, huh?" I muse out loud, chuckling a little bit. "It just means that they care about you, Yukinoshita. Bothersome, sure, but it probably means that you're still okay whenever you're around them."

"Still... all of those pointless talking is something that I need to get used to." the girl beside me sighs out tiredly. Looks like she really needs her sleep. "Speaking of which, Uzumaki-kun, I'm sorry that I wasn't able to give any help today. Being in a different class limits my participation in club activities."

I wave her apologies off. Really, there's no need to apologize in the first place. "Nah, no need. In fact, Yui and I only did minimal work today." that revelation arouses a surprised reaction from Yukinoshita. "Tobe, being the apt social butterfly he is, is a natural when it comes to talking. So, yeah, we only had to show him several stuffs that he could use to his advantage and it's in his hands from that point onwards."

"Hmm... so, I assume that your plan of using your godfather's... books... is no longer an option?"

I don't like the way you're refering to his books there, woman. "No." unfortunately. "But, that just means less work for me." I smirk like the generic asshole I am while shrugging my shoulders. "Who am I to complain?"

Rolling her eyes, it seems that Yukinoshita finds my response to be... shit. "Sloth."

"Workaholic."

"Yankee."

"Sonovabochi."

"Pervert."

"...ruthless dictator."

"...uncouth barbarian."

So be it.

After the exchange of nouns from the both of us, a tall and totally not suspicious person dressed in a long brown trench coat walks past us. It takes the both of us exactly two seconds to realize that this person is in fact...

"Ehehe... wassup?"

"Hiratsuka-sensei?" Both Yukinoshita and I question as one.

* * *

"Hahaha! That was amazing!"

Indeed, I have to agree with my single teacher, it was amazing.

And funny as fuck.

In fact, the reason why I can't say anything right now is because I'm still giggling after what happened earlier at the ramen restaurant. Yukinoshita is giving me murderous looks, but that ain't enough to stop me from laughing.

"It... certainly had an interesting flavor."

Interesting?! Girl, you fainted after your first bite!

"Uzumaki-kun, I'll kill you."

"HAHAHAHAHA!" I can't take it anymore. "Oh... Oh... Oh God... that was... that was..." I'm out of breath, as if I'd just run three laps around Kyoto. "Haah... Hillarious... hahahahaha..."

Sighing, Yukinoshita has enough of my shit. Looking at Hiratsuka-sensei, who's seated in between the both of us, she gives her teacher a suspicious look. "Nevertheless, why did we have to be your accomplices?"

"Ehe... ehehehe... I for once did not mind being an accomplice to that." Kyoto ramen is great. GREAT.

"Of course, grabbing two students to come with her to eat ramen in the middle of the night right before curfew isn't allowed." Somehow, Hiratsuka-sensei's not nervous or worried at all. "That's exactly why I paid you off with ramen."

"That's even more unbecoming of a teacher..." it seems that my club president's trust on her club advisor is slowly degrading.

After making sure that I'm no longer laughing uncontrolably, I stretch my arms forward, as to avoid hitting Hiratsuka-sensei and the door. "But... just make sure that no one finds out about this, Hiratsuka-sensei."

"Getting into trouble isn't a bad thing."

"Oho? And who is it that keeps on telling me to avoid making trouble, huh?" I jeer back cynically.

"There's an exception for you, you blonde troublemaker. When it's you, you always involve me. But if it's Yukinoshita who gets into trouble, her homeroom teacher's the one who has to deal with it."

I give up.

This woman is truly one of a kind.

"In all seriousness..." Hiratsuka-sensei resumes, chuckling briefly. "It just means that someone's watching you." taking her time turning her head to look at me and Yukinoshita in that order, she says, "And I've got my eyes on you. So feel free to mess up as much as you want."

"Then, I'll-"

"Except for you, Uzumaki."

...bummer...

Not long later, the taxi drops us off in front of a supermarket near the inn we're staying at. Of course, since dragging us off and bribing us with delicious ramen was Hiratsuka-sensei's plan, she's the one who paid for the taxi. It maybe just me, but that taxi driver looks like he's glad to have us off his cab.

"I need to buy some booze to party the night away." is what she tells us. Oh, now she's going to drink too? "Later. Be careful on your way back." she's about to leave, but not before glaring at me. "Make sure you keep Yukinoshita safe, Uzumaki!"

What am I, her bodyguard or something? But, tiredly and lazily, I just reply with a steady 'Yes.' With that said, Yukinoshita – who's wearing the trench coat that Hiratsuka-sensei has lent her – and I begin our walk back to the inn.

On the way back, I just have to wonder.

Who the hell wears sunglasses at night?

The air of Kyoto is slightly different than the air of Chiba. I don't know if it's because Kyoto's further from the sea, but it lacks that salty sea breeze that Chiba has during this time of the night. The wind, however, is equally refreshing; accompanied with the soft and dimly lit light of the lantern that decorates the streets that we are walking on, it's almost as if we're walking through a road straight to the past. The sky, already dark and black, is littered with the presence of small dotted stars, reminiscent of the sky back in Chiba. Unlike Chiba, however, there are no tall skyscrapers to accompany them.

Currently, we're progressing at a very steady pace, far too steady for my liking. But it's not my fault that Yukinoshita's lagging behind me, she's probably hindered due to the cold, even with that coat she's borrowed from Hiratsuka-sensei. Me, I have no problems. In fact, I quite enjoy the chilly sky. Which is why I'm wearing light; a simple red t-shirt with the picture of Kamina in front, pointing his finger towards the sky, a pair of my favorite khaki slacks, a comfortable pair of brown loafers and a chestnut brown blazer since I need a place to put my phone.

Again, the cold doesn't bother me, anyway, but it's a little bit annoying having to wait for Yukinoshita to catch up with me. So, I slow down my pace and begin walking when I'm next to her side.

"Uzumaki-kun?"

Stretching my arms, I yawn. "C'mon, let's hurry up a little bit. Curfew's in twenty minutes and we'll get a major scolding if we don't hurry it up." I offer her my hand.

Like a clueless kitten, she looks at the extended piece of body part with confusion in her eyes. Sighing, I shake my outstretched hand lightly to get my point across. "I know a quicker way to get back, so let's go."

"O-Oh..."

With a little bit of what I assume to be hesitation and uncertainty, she accepts my gesture. Now holding my hand, I make sure to not hold her hand too tightly. Her hands are way smaller than mine, as if I could crush them just by applying the slightest bit of force and pressure. Now, she's walking at the same pace as I am, so I won't have to worry about leaving her behind.

Taking a shortcut, we proceed down an alley. It isn't as dark as it sounds because there are actually functional street lights that lit the place up quite nicely. We end up in another sidewalk, this time, however, the inn is just a few meters beyond us. I can aready see the lanterns from here. We resume our walk again, this time accompanied with the presence of walking passerby around us. When we reach the front of the inn, we stop.

"We're here." I say.

"..."

"Eh... Yukinoshita, we're here."

"O-Oh? Y-Yeah... indeed."

"And, uh... may I have my hand back, please?"

Like someone that has just touched fire, she lets go of my hand in an instant, her face turning bright red to a point it's visible even if it's quite dark outside. She hugs her hand to her chest, looks like she's that worried about being infected with siscon virus.

"C'mon, let's enter. We're just in time for curfew." And I really wanna sleep.

"Yes... yes."

Without anymore words or sounds, the both of us walk into the inn, together.

* * *

 **I'm back and I'm here to stay.**

 **Whew... it's been a long while, hasn't it? I must say, getting this chapter done in... three or four days was actually harder than I thought. Looks like I'm getting rusty. Let's just hope that I'll be able to slide back into my usual pace as soon as possible. I've been through some shitty events that may or may not have taken a toll to my slowly degrading view on humanity, but that's a talk for another time, or you can come to Discord to hear me bitching about my life!**

 **So, real talk now, I really appreciate the reviews and the fact that all of you are understanding towards me. My exams are finished, finally, and I will be able to upload future chapters actively. Yes, this means that starting from now on, updates for Immortal and PMC will be more often.**

 **As for schedule, I don't usually use a schedule. Meaning I'll upload as fast and as early as I can. I can't give you guys a solid schedule, but it will definitely not take a very long time like the three months break I've taken.**

 **I don't usually address reviews directly, so if you have anything to say or ask please PM me, you'll get your answers there. And one last thing, to loyal readers, I can promise all of you that the chapters will be out quicker.**

 **Thank you for being patient guys, but now, I'm ready to write and update.**


	19. Giving Love A Bad Name

_"You know... things like this doesn't sprout out of nowhere, brat."_

 _Stirring the class of sweetened ice tea, I find myself unresponsive to Tanaka-san's words. The same goes for the all around cozy and tranquil atmosphere of the small, corner cafe that we are currently in, everything is either unheard or unseen to me; my only focus is at the drink that I'm currently stirring at the moment._

 _The table I'm currently resting my hands on rattle and shakes briefly, but nothing too serious that it'll disturb the other few customers present with us this evening. The suddenness of the movement brings about my attention to her and when I finally make the decision to look at her face, all I can see is the face of a very strict mother who has to work ridiculous shifts in order to provide for her family._

 _She demands a response, a reply or whatever, from me. But honestly, I don't feel like talking to her at the moment. After the right amount of silence has passed, I lift my arms off from the table top and sighs, directing my view at my feet underneath the table._

 _"Well, what can I say? It's normal for authors to get into this kind of phase every once in a while, right?" seems like an answer that will satisfy her, but for me, I know that isn't a suitable reply._

 _Tanaka-san rolls her eyes, probably finding my answer as ridiculous as a car with no wheels. "I'd let you off easily if that was the case normally, but you do realize the situation our company is in now, right? Heck, forget the company, you do realize the situation that our industry is currently facing, right?"_

 _If you mean the currently ongoing increase of creative demand from consumers that we are not capable of keeping up with, then, yeah, I am more than aware of that. Making a frowny face won't get me anywhere, I know, but I just can't help it._

 _"Just whose great idea was it to decentralize authority at this time of the month anyway, huh?" despite the aggressiveness of the question, my voice is restrained. "It didn't do you any good, seeing as you're still bombarded with work. And it sure as hell didn't do me any good, now did it?"_

 _"I know." the woman sitting opposite of me is tapping her nails on the table, creating small staccato of vibrations that only annoys me even further. "But there's nothing we can do about it-"_

 _"-then fine." I rudely cut her off with a rather defined edge in my voice and tone. "If there's nothing could be done, then the company will have to wait."_

 _"You know as well as me that we can't wait another four or five months for your manuscript, brat."_

 _"You can't, yeah, but you've no choice." I say with the sternness that could potentially rival Tanaka-san's own. "Either you give me a few more months to work with, or you get the worst manuscript I'll ever offer. Pick."_

 _I know I got her in the corner. Tanaka-san's company relies on Icha Icha heavily, and when I say heavily, I really mean it. Icha Icha makes up ninety percent of their total sales, meaning that they can't lose any sales in order to profit. If my next installment is delivered in poor quality, and those pesky, uncultured and snobby 'book reviewers' post their 'un-opinionated and honest review' on their shitty blog, people will see it and they probably won't buy it. Besides, I ain't the type of guy who likes to disappoint his fans. It's enough that I'm a jerk at school and my personal life, at the very least, I'll try to not act the same way when it comes to loyal followings._

 _"You can't force me to work, Tanaka-san, unless you want a downgrade in quality." I say while crossing my arms. "If you want quality work, then you'll have to wait." to prove my point even further, I try to use an analogy. "You can't force a cow to give you milk, after all."_

 _That is the analogy I'm using because, what the hell, I'm practically cattle at this point._

 _Tanaka-san sighs, she also gives me one of her rare receding expressions. "Fine. I'll try to convince them to give you more time, but the most I can do is three months. That's all."_

 _Three months, huh? What can I do in three months?_

 _Sure as hell more than what Goku could do in fifteen episodes._

 _Nodding my head, I give her a clue that I am satisfied with the condition. "Yes, that'd be enough."_

...and that is the dream I had before I'm greatly reminded that I am, in fact, no longer in Chiba. Lifting my body up in a sitting position, I look around, taking a gander at the scenery around me. I say scenery because it takes me a while to finally get the gist of what's happened last night.

"Na...ru...to..."

...oh, it's just Saika, sheesh, nearly thought that a girl sneaked in last night.

Yes, this sausage fest of a room is infested with boys – and one Totsuka Saika – and will definitely be a scenery that Ebina-san will enjoy seeing.

"Naruto..."

"Hm?"

It dawns to me that Saika isn't the one who uttered my name this time. Instead, it's the Chuuni himself, Zaimokuza.

"You didn't say Uno..."

Fuck me for forgetting, you lard. And what the hell are you doing here, you ain't even in my class or group!

* * *

After that more than likable wake up, we are here in one of the many places of entertainment in Kyoto.

I'm currently typing away on my small and less-than-appropriate-medium-to-write-a story-manuscript-in phone, all the while trudging through the dark halls of this haunted house with two weights strapped to my hands.

"W-W-What's that sound?! Who's there?! Come out!"

Kawasaki... I don't think they'll come out even if you shout like that... and stop gripping my shirt, you'll stretch the fabric!

"Ahahaha... going to this kind'a place once in a while is fun too..." you say that, but you're gripping my shirt too, Yui.

I swear, just what's scary about a haunted house? Sure, real ghosts are scary, but in this kind of place, you know that the ones scaring you are people. And yeah, the shock value is there, but the overall ambiance isn't intense enough to warrant a very serious scare, especially when you're traveling in a group like this one.

"Hayato~ I'm scared!"

"Ahaha..."

"Hayato-kun, bro, l-let's get outta here, yeah?"

...looks like Hayama's having a tough time too, but I don't feel sorry for him. And Tobe, man, that's a no-no when you're in the presence of the girl you're gonna be confessing to later!

"Uhehehe... Hayato-kun and Tobecchi are... huehuehue..."

...looks like she's enjoying this haunted house for the wrong reasons...

"You two-" groaning, I can't – literally – shake off the two weights that are currently clinging on to me for dear life like a lifeline. "-should've waited outside if you're this scared!" I don't even bother typing anymore, not like this.

"B-But... it's scary..." try imagining a girl as intimidating and tall as Kawasaki saying that to you while she's holding on your sleeve for dear life.

Kawasaki? More like _Kawaiisaki_...

Sighing, I turn to Yui. And it looks like she's more embarrassed than Kawasaki, considering how red her face is... seriously, if you're this scared, then why bother coming here? I understand Yui, since she needs to observe the progress with Tobe, but you, Kawasaki?

"Ufufufu, this is so fun!"

...but, it seems that someone from our group is enjoying this trip for what it is. Ever since we entered this place, Saika's been showing not a single hint of being scared. "Eeeh... Saika, you're taking this whole thing quite well, aren't you?"

"Hm?" looking at me, I can only see a smile on his face. "Yeah! I love haunted houses like this one, they're really fun!"

You hear the boy, ladies and gents, haunted houses are fun.

Sighing, it seems that I'll have to soldier on with these two ladies clutched to my hands. Oh yes, I am complaining. To the deluded no-lifes out there, having two beautiful girls clinging to you may seem like heaven, but no! Even if they're girls, they still have weight! Don't take this the wrong way, but, both Yui and Kawasaki are 'high spec' girls, if you naw'm saying? That means they're both _distracting_ me and weighing me down with their... _assets_.

But yeah, aside from those two, I ain't complaining.

We walk with the accompaniment of Kawasaki's and Yui's constant paranoid outburst, they react to every single thing like fluorine does to almost all elements in the periodic table, from the creepy ambient music played through the sound system, the movement of automated props and even the sound of their own footsteps. Meanwhile, Saika's just walking along with no hints of fear or paranoia, humming a happy tune to himself.

I wanna say that they're gripping a little bit too tightly, but at this point, I feel sorry for them to the point where I just don't care if my uniform's torn or ripped.

About a minute after our last conversation, something happened. Remember when I said that there are people actively trying to scare you in this kinda place? Well, one of them finally shows up, disguising himself as a lifeless zombie samurai, suddenly springing back to life, scaring the shit out of Yui, annoying the hell outta me, entertaining Saika and... probably causing Kawasaki to shit buckets.

"BWARRRRRRGH!"

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Don't shout at my ears, Yui!

"Ahahaha! This is fun!" Saika...

And, dude, what the hell? 'BWARRRRRRGH!' Really? At least say something like, 'I'll kill you!' or 'Curse you!' to make it more intense!

Seriously, they need to try har-UBUGH!

"OW!" due to her being surprised, Yui's head snaps back and hits my chin with the back of her neck, dealing a good bit of damage to the both of us. It probably hurts more for Yui, seeing as how she's now crouching on the floor while clutching her poor head.

"Uhu... hu... hu..."

"K-Kawasaki-san?" Saika utters in worry.

"I... I'M GETTING OUTTA HERE!"

"Kawasaki-san!"

Like a bat out of hell, Kawasaki makes a bee line for the exit, dodging and avoiding everything that attempts to scare her like a champ. Saika runs after her, what a good kid, he's making sure that she doesn't trip, fall and hurts herself. Haah... I wish Komachi is like that.

Ignoring my secret, but sincere, desire aside... the pain I'm feeling due to Yui's unintentional headbutt is slowly dissipating. The girl, however, is still in pain. Looking down at her crouched form, I feel sorry for her.

"You okay, Yui?"

"Y-Yeah, what about you, Maki?" I don't know whether it's instinct or just impulse, but she reaches out to grab my chin. "You hurt too?"

"N-Nah, I'm fine." I have to say that this is a little bit surprising.

"O-Oh..." realizing what she's doing, Yui quickly retracts her hand. "I-I see... good then."

"Yeah..." God this is awkward, what am I, a virgin? Sighing, looks like we better catch up with the others. "Here, let's go." I offer my hand to help her stand, which she takes.

"Okay!" but this time, she's dragging me forward by the sleeve. "L-Let's go Maki, don't want to be left behind by Hayato-kun and the others!"

Sheesh... this girl...

Minutes later, after several more terrified shouting from Yui and 'surprising' jumpscares from the automatons and staffs alike, the two of us are finally outside.

"Uwaaah... we're finally out..." look who's relieved. "That was the worst..."

But, yeah, out here is definitely better than in there. I like my fresh air, thank you very much. I ain't a fucking hikkikomori.

Wiping a bead of sweat threatening to slide down my eyebrow, I also see Saika walking over to us. "That pretty cool, huh, Naruto?"

"Sure... but not for Yui." Yui doesn't share the same sentiments, unfortunately. "Anyway, where are the others?" I ask my silver haired friend.

"Ah, they're resting over there." Saika gestures a hand towards a recreational gazebo resting area that almost all theme park has. And I'm reminded that we're not in a theme park.

Meh, close enough.

"Hm... somehow, I don't we've been making progress at all." A few steps behind me, Yui's sigh is loud enough to be heard by both me and Saika. Saika chuckles, mirrored by my own dry sigh. "Right, Maki? Tobecchi was doing so well the other day..."

"Oh we did make progress." I reassure her. "Sadly, that progress doesn't last long enough till today." from the distance, I can see Hayama gesturing us to come over. Oh, looks like we're moving already. "Anyway, let's go, prince charming over there is beckoning us."

But before I can even take my first step, my phone vibrates. "Hm?" Curious, I take out my phone and look at the screen. It's a message from an unknown number.

 **'Meet me at the bridge in ten minutes, please.  
I have something to say to you!'**

...if that isn't suspicious or strange, I don't know what is.

"Hm, hey, Maki, c'mon! Let's go!" Yui and Saika are already several steps ahead from me, I must've missed the sound of them walking away.

Looking up from my phone, I wave a hand at her. "Ah, sorry, I think I'll catch up with you guys later."

"Where are you going, Naruto?" Saika asks. Okay, it's harder to brew up a lie now.

"I... need to buy Komachi souvenirs." this is not a lie, technically. I really need to buy her souvenirs, otherwise she'll be mad. "I'll meet you guys later. Yui, just text my phone, okay?"

"Y-Yeah, okay..." For some reason, I'm detecting suspicion from those eyes of hers. Now that I think about it, I really look suspicious don't I?

Saying my goodbye, I part away from the group, off to head towards my objective. The message says a bridge but it isn't really clear which bridge I'm supposed to be looking for. But something tells me that it's that big bridge near the lake that's located near the entrance.

"Wait, why am I worrying about that, who the hell sent the message in the first place..." I'm really getting my priorities mixed up here. Retrieving back my phone, I check my text history.

An unknown number, but judging from how direct and abrupt the message is, I'm guessing that this person knows me. What is this, some sort of Mystic Messenger bullshit?

Ah, fyi, I think that Seven is a cool guy.

I've no idea whose number this is. I guess I can just call the person and find out who... but something tells me that the plot won't allow that. In any case, I'll just send a return message to tell Mister or Missus X that I'm on the way.

I know I shouldn't let myself be played into this nonsense, for all I know, it could be Haruno-san using a different number and asking me to accompany her while she do some family business trip here in Kyoto. Yes, I believe that that woman would go as far as coming to Kyoto herself in order to annoy the hell out of me and her sister.

Anyway, I'm here at the bridge, where the hell is this dude?

Leaning back on the bridge's railing, looks like I'll just have to wait. But this guy better come here quick, because it's getting crowded here. Speaking about crowds, I'm not seeing anyone from our school, so looks like this person I'm meeting isn't a student?

Or worse, is it actually Haruno-san?

"S-Sorry for the wait, Uzumaki-kun!"

I feel my neck tingle as soon as those words reach my ears.

Turning my head to my right, to the direction of the voice, I can see the face of my caller as clear as the sky that's currently above me. Despite the decent amount of crowd passing through the bridge, I can say a hundred percent sure that my eyes are not tricking me. I'm pretty sure I'm frowning right now.

I lay my eyes on the person, longer this time. I sigh, my head's starting to hurt and I don't think that I'll be able to smoothly waltz through this without a reasonable excuse.

In the midst of heavy breathing, she trudges through in order find the right amount of distance required to have a conversation with me. Once she's close enough, I ask,

"What do you want... Sagami?"

Yes, my so called Mystic Messenger is none other than Sagami Minami herself.

Shocking, isn't it?

* * *

Silence isn't always a bad thing. But hearing this coming from a guy who's famed for being a loudmouth when he's younger, I don't know if it's delivered as effectively as compared to hearing it from someone, like, Sasuke. Silence, however, is a bad thing when it makes people uncomfortable. For instance, see the situation I'm in.

I'm right here standing side by side with a girl who nearly confessed her 'love' to me during the school's cultural festival wordlessly, gazing out at the crowd gathering in the distance, opposite to the position we're at. Like me, the girl beside me has yet to let words slip out of her mouth, prolonging this... stalemate. I can tell that five minutes or so have passed without even looking at my watch, the silence is just that obvious. And with silence like this, awkwardness comes naturally. But we've passed that point now.

Anymore of this wordless waiting and I'll go crazy.

"So... how did you get my number?"

"G-Geh..." looks like she doesn't expect me to ask that question first. Her purple dyed hair covers the upper portion of her face, her head tilted downwards, she refuses to meet my eyes. "I... I... eh... let's just say that I have friends who knows your number."

Now there's a problem, what makes you think that I have the same type of 'friends' as you?

Of course, I'm not going to say this out loud to her.

I'll give her the benefit of the doubt. Sighing, I run a hand through my hair, wiping sweat in the process. "So, you have something to say to me, right? What is it?" I really try to not sound like I'm dismissing her, but I can't freaking help it.

Uuugh... I wanna eat ramen with Hiratsuka-sensei again...

"Ab-About that time at the roof!"

Oh God, why am I not surprised?

She takes a step forward towards me, causing me to take a step back in return.

"You know what I was going to say, right, Uzumaki-kun?" Sagami shakes her head. "No, you **definitely** knew what I was going to say, right?"

Well...

"Yeah. I... knew." it can't get any lamer than that, sorry guys. Still, I-I can't lie! Even if I do lie, I get the feeling that she'll call my bull.

Sagami blinks several times but then, the corner of her lips stretches to form a small smile. Now, it's my turn to blink like an owl. Why is she smiling? And she looks...

...relieved?

A sigh escapes her lips, but I can't quite figure out as to why she's sighing.

"Then... your answer, Uzumaki-kun?"

I suck in my irritation, trying my best to maintain a calm front. However, I really can't help my face from looking disappointed. Pinching the bridge of my nose, I then look at the purple haired girl straight in eyes.

"...are you serious?"

"Yes." Oh God, she is serious. "I... I want to know your answer." like a pair of headlights being shined upon a deer, her eyes causes me to freeze all involuntary movements.

Like a steam engine, I blow out air from my nose, failing to restrain myself from exhaling. Looking down to meet her eyes again, I make sure to look as serious as possible. Who knows, maybe this'll turn her off?

"Sagami, I-"

 **Vbbr... Vbbr...**

...now what is it?

But this time, I'm feeling thankful. I see Sagami reach into her skirt's pocket, pulling out a bedazzled looking flip phone with beads, straps and all sorts of atrocities that one should never put or stick on their phone. It seems that she's in the middle of reading a mail and not a good one, it seems, judging by the frown appearing on her face. Whether it's disappointment or irritation she's feeling, I don't know, but what I do know is that I have somehow been saved from this whole ordeal.

"We'll talk later Uzumaki-kun, later, I don't know when but, for sure!" and how are you going to do that? Turning on her heels, she looks ready to leave, but not before giving me one last smile. "See you later, Uzumaki-kun, I'll wait for your answer then!"

Looking at her running and disappearing form, I can only scratch my head in confusion.

"How the hell am I gonna face this?"

Better questions have never been asked since... forever.

* * *

"Here we go..."

Taking over the empty spot that overlooks the entirety of the dry, rock garden. Ryoan-ji is quieter than usual, even if tourists are advised to keep their volumes to a minimal. The zen garden is as cryptic yet intriguing as it looks. A garden consisting entirely of dry, smooth pebbles, gravels and bigger rocks; it's a mystery as to why people would find aesthetic pleasure over seeing a shit tonne of rocks. I know full well that it is intended to be associated with meditation, something that I had to learn a long time ago. And, I guess, I can see why it is intended that way. The raking of the pebbles is a form of meditation to some people and that's basically it. Aesthetic is, at least I think, an outcome of dedication exploited by people who, probably, has no idea of how much effort it took to make the garden into what it is now and today. They should know. In fact, they should know right now! The travel pamphlet provides information and people ought to read those!

I'm here now because Yui texted that she, and the rest, is gonna meet up with me here. From where we separated, the haunted house, this place isn't actually very far. But for me, since I had to drag my ass all the way to that bridge in order to meet with Sagami, I had to run here in order to make it here first before they do. It would've been fine if they arrive first... but my competitive nature won't allow it.

Never!

"Oh, I wasn't aware that uncouth, sleazy and delinquent barbarians are allowed inside?"

I perceive the voice as an alarm clock. The moment I hear it, my motivation goes down rock-bottom. I sense several people occupying the empty spaces on the veranda next to mine, looks like she's here with her group. I do not need to turn my head to guess who the owner of the voice is, I can basically feel it through my skin. That and her voice is easy to recognize. I do not budge from my position, afraid that I might somehow, in one way or another, offend the blizzard next to me.

So, I merely answer her without moving.

"I wasn't aware that ruthless dictators are allowed entry in Japan." I say without batting an eyelash. "What's wrong with North Korea, too strict for you?"

I can sense the person I'm exchanging banter with shaking her head. "No, there's simply no reason for me to be there, considering that a person as sleazy and uncultured as you is allowed free roam in this country."

God damn it.

I sigh, giving up the verbal battle. "Alright, you won this round Yukinoshita." I'll deliver vengeance later once we're back in Chiba.

The sound of her giggling does not ease me up one bit. Once she's stopped giggling, I finally turn to look at her by swiveling my head slowly to the side.

Uwaah... her friends are looking at me weirdly... am I that suspicious?

...on second thought, if Yukinoshita hears me ask that, she'll provide a fuck tonne of evidence to prove that I'm suspicious.

"As a part of the tour, it's only natural to visit this place." She says in a very factual tone that she often uses when she spits out ice cold facts. "This place, apparently, is also known as 'The Garden With Tiger Cubs Crossing'. A very interesting name, isn't it, Uzumaki-kun?"

I snort. "I bet you only think like that since it has the word 'tiger' in it." tigers are, after all, cats too. And this woman is a future cat lady.

"Ara, what a poor assumption, Uzumaki _Nya_ ruto-kun."

"Oi." Meow!

Again, her friends are looking at me weird. Meh, fine, as long as Yukinoshita's not doing anything about it, I should probably keep quiet too.

As we sit here busy with our own passive tasks – well at least mine's passive since I'm just waiting for Yui and the rest, while Yukinoshita's actively examining the garden – the place is slowly getting filled with people, both local and foreign tourists alike. Where are they, anyway? Don't tell me that they took a pit stop somewhere first?

"Yukinon!"

Oh, speak of the clumsy little ditz... and she shall arrive.

From the entrance behind us, both Yukinoshita and myself turn to see Yui and the rest of the group that I've left behind earlier. Yui's waving her hand, probably excited to see her precious Yukinon after a day of not meeting her. Yukinoshita, knowing what must be done in this situation, chooses to stand up, confusing the group she's initially traveling with.

"Well, Uzumaki-kun, let's take this talk into a more appropriate location, shall we?" she asks me, a small smile on her face.

Sighing, I shake my head. "Sure, whatever."

Yukinoshita delays herself for a few moment, probably telling her group that she'll be joining them later. Yui and I quietly waits while Yukinoshita tells her group that she'll be away for a moment, and once she's done, the three of us retreat back to a more secluded side of the temple, near the other and more overlooked garden.

"So," crossing her arms underneath her modest chest, Yukinoshita seems eager to start conversation. "how goes the request?"

"It's not as easy as we thought." Yui exhales tiredly. Looks like she attempted to do her task whilst I was away from the group. Poor girl.

"We don't wanna go too far and tip Ebina off." I say, nudging my head towards the direction where Hayama and his group are at. "And..." a certain someone seems to be acting suspicious...

"And what else?" crap, Yui manages to hear what I said earlier.

"Nothing. Never mind."

"I'm sorry for leaving it all in your hands." the moment Yukinoshita speaks, Yui's attention is shifted instantly. Whew, dodged a bullet there.

"Nah, it's no biggie!" Yeah, what she said. On second thought, I basically said the same thing to you the other day!

"I don't know if it's enough to make up for it but..." Yui and I watch with owl like eyes as Yukinoshita rummages through her blazer's pocket. It's rare to see her being genuinely apologetic, but it seems that she's still trying to do her share of her work even if it's minimal. "Here is a list of spots that girls might find interesting."

I doubt that Ebina is classifiable as normal girls but... we'll take it.

"Wow, that's my Yukinon!"

Wait, _your_ Yukinon, since when has she ever been yours? Is there some sort of secret pact that I never know of, hm?

After receiving the list from Yukinoshita, Yui pockets it into her blazer compartment, smiling like an excited tourist who's off to explore the foreign land she's at like there's no tomorrow. Oi, don't forget that we're supposed to be the one doing the scouting here...

Oh well, looks like the rest of the day is gonna be spent wandering around... but I doubt that we'll finish today.

* * *

In the first place, is it really wise to share something as secretive as a crush to people? A crush, by tradition, has always been some sort of personal secret that the bearer should be keeping to himself... or was I wrong? The terminology I'm using is the one that people would normally use, so I suppose it's should be appropriate in this context. For me, personally, a crush is just that; an event where the opportunity of your feelings being crushed – hence the name – is very large.

Speaking from experience, my first crush turned out to be a sister-like figure whom I admire and adore. Yes, I loved her, but that love wasn't the type of love to be associated with romance or wedding rings or marriage vows. It was just... pure admiration of both her flaws and qualities as a human being. So something as serene, personal and complicated as romance is... clueless to me.

I told myself that I won't get married, even though I often make jokes about marriage. Well, rather than I won't, it's just... I **can't**. I mean I _can_ , obviously, but I just **can't** at the same freaking time. I always think of what will happen to me after I, eventually, outlive my spouse? Move on with life as if nothing has ever happened in the first place?

Well, yeah.

That seems to be the only solution to me. Unless, of course, I find another immortal significant other who's more than glad enough to spend the rest of eternity together with me. But what're the chances of that happening? Nil, I'm sure.

I feel a strong but subtle breeze hitting me straight on, causing me to hug my cardigan covered body. Seeing that my destination is just a few steps away, I increase my pace to enter. The door slides open, and the ever so familiar electronic bell rings the moment the sensor picks up my presence. The cashier is busy with a customer, so that explains with the lack of greeting. And convenience stores tend to be busy at night, after all.

Walking past the cashier, I find myself the path towards the books section of the convenience store. Since I don't bring my laptop with me currently and I need to review a part of my earlier works, one of the magazines here that usually features novels and other reading medium must at least have a part where they review my story that I can use for cross referencing.

Wow, try saying that in one breath.

Anyway, here it is. A magazine that features books from my publisher, or Tanaka-san's company.

Opening the pages quickly, I'm searching only for a past review of one of my books. Aha, found it.

Yeah... hm... the hell, isn't this the same guy whose blogpost I shit on often?

"If it isn't whiskers..."

My ears perk up at the unfamiliar sounding voice. And also, what the fuck, whiskers?

Looking at the source of the voice, my eyes narrow as I am proven correct. The rude person is none other than Miura Yumiko, Hayama's not-so-secret admirer. It's strange to see her wearing something other than a school uniform, but it's not like I see her that often. Meh, best to just ignore her.

"Hey, you listening to me?"

The sound of paper whipping and rustling is an indication that she's dropped whatever book or article she's reading and shifts her full attention to me. Just my luck. Closing my eyes, I close the magazine I'm reading and place it back where it belongs. Slowly turning on my heels, I face her bravado head on, but while maintaining a neutral front. The last thing I want is to set her fuse off in a public place like this.

"Whiskers? I'm afraid I don't know a person by that name..." god damn it, it's always the whiskers, huh? If it's not the hair, then it's the whiskers.

"Hah? Don't get cocky with me, whiskers." her glare and attitude are enough proof that my playful attitude won't work with her. At least now. "I know what you guys are doing. Stop it." like a mother scolding her child, her voice carries a sense of finality in it.

I roll my eyes, not knowing that it only irritates her even further. "Can't do that." I say while rolling my shoulders. "We're on a job and we can't just stop." though I must say, the progress we're making is indeed questionable...

Look, even if we give up, one of you folks is just gonna return in the future begging us to solve the same shit all over again. I'd rather cross the bridge now, thank you very much.

Picking up yet another magazine of her choosing, Miura does this while keeping up a conversation with me. "You're being nosy as hell, so could you please stop messing around with Ebina?"

Why are you making it sound like I'm the only one who's being a bother. It's a part of club request, girl. "You listenin' to me, whiskers?"

"Yeah." I sigh. Particularly, I don't mind that she's being straightforward with her displeasure. But my objective and her irritation is clashing, and I'm not about to give up after spending much effort.

'sides, Yui will probably be sad if this fails...

"You need to know that we ain't messing with her." I say, flipping a page of the magazine I pick up earlier.

"You totally are. It's obvious."

This chick... she closes the magazine, returning it back to the compartment from where it comes from. "You're being a pain, y'know." again, why are you making it sound like I'm the one entirely responsible, huh?

"A pain, huh." I drawl while sending a careful glance towards her. "But that's what someone wants us to do." I pause for a while, thinking of the words that I'm about to say to her. "Why do you even care? It's not like it's affected or affecting you in any way?"

"'Scuse me?" there's displeasure in her tone, I probably should've chosen my words better. "It's _about_ to affect me."

"Y'know..." she starts again. "Hasn't your relationship with Yui taught you anything 'bout Ebina?"

"What does Yui have to do with this?" that... came out harsher than I intended.

Miura is now looking at me and she's giving me one hell of a glare that will put others into an unmoving and frozen state. "A lot, actually." I notice her grip on the magazine she's currently holding is increasing in terms of pressure. "You... because of you, Yui..."

She lets out a long sigh that can seemingly last until eternity.

"...forget about it." she shakes her head, this time with genuine disappointment. "But you should've catch up to these things."

Catch up on what, exactly?

My understanding of the fairer gender is not as good as I initially thought it is.

"Ebina's a pretty face so long as she keeps her trap shut." Well, you got that right. "So a lotta guys asked me to introduce them to her." this is not that surprising. "Then when I try and set 'em up, she acts like she'd rather drop dead."

Okay, ain't gonna lie, that'll be amusing to watch.

Closing her eyes, Miura seems to be recalling the particular event as she's telling me. "I thought she's just shy, so I left her alone. And then she smiled and went, 'Fine. Whatever' like she didn't even know me no more."

"Ebina doesn't like talking about herself, but I don't question her, but I'm pretty sure she hates that kind'a stuff."

That's probably true... but not entirely true at the same time.

When you have to choose one for the other, you'd naturally choose the thing you prefer or like the most. I can't blame Ebina for acting the way she is, but if anything, her reaction when getting introduced to a guy tells me that she's not ready to show a side of her to you yet, Miura.

I can't tell Miura my thoughts... not when she's smiling like a saint like that.

"Y'know, I'm having fun right now." then, what happens next, almost makes me want to swallow up the comment I made earlier about Miura's smile. "So stop sticking your nose where it don't belong, creepo."

Those jade green eyes of her look like they're ready to face me at anytime. Despite the fragile nature of their friendship, if you can even call it in the first place, Miura Yumiko is still willing to do everything necessary in order to preserve it. Girl, you just earned my respect.

Closing my magazine, I got what I need to know. So, I return it back to the shelf. "You don't need to worry then." I stretch my arms and neck. "If Hayama's not doing anything about it, then you don't have a thing to worry about."

Her look falters at the mention of the person she loves, but it reconstitutes itself again, this time with relief. Again, she smiles, but unlike the angelic smile she's unknowingly shown before, this one is more oriented towards relief.

"Well, if Hayato is still chill, then we're good."

She's also hopeless, huh?

* * *

Today is tomorrow, and yesterday has passed.

Another day, another effort to be made.

Seriously, I'd enjoy the trip more if it isn't for the fact that we have to play cupid to the most troublesome group of all time. Hey, it's me, Naruto, and I'm reporting live from Fushimi Inari-taisha. The place is nice, I guess? The color of autumn leaves really matches the large Torii gates the have set up here. Speaking of which, isn't this shrine supposed to be heavily associated with foxes?

Well... since Kurama's chakra contained in me... shit.

Observing my surroundings, I'm not doing some random scenic view, mind you, if my presence disturbs any of the local... _spiritually sensitive_ people, then I'd be in trouble.

Yes, believe it or not, I've encountered people with spiritual sensitivity that allows them to distinguish me from the common folk, though it's rare. Extremely so. But, hey, never hurts to be sorry. Suppressing my chakra should do.

"Uwaah! I can see the entire town from here!"

Yui isn't exaggerating... well, at least not that much. She isn't wrong. We can see the town from here, I mean, we're pretty up high. The visitors here are way less than the temple we visited the other day, so there are more open spaces for our group to occupy.

I feel buzzing on my thigh. Who is it now...

...geh...

 **From: Sagami**

 **To: Uzumaki Naruto**

 **Uzumaki-kun, let's meet again tonight.  
Where are you?**

...now how should I tackle this?

No. I shouldn't 'tackle' this at all. When in doubt, don't do anything. I slip my phone back into my pocket.

What text, I didn't receive any text?

"Uzuki-kun, how goes it with the guys?"

What the hell Ebina... you surprised me...

"It's going pretty smoothly. We played UNO, slept in the same room, some guys even had to share the same futon." This should be enough for her daily dose.

"Nooo!" she's screaming like a deadbeat dad when he hears that he has to pay for child support. "It's useless if I'm not there to see it for myself, Uzuki-kun!" she lunges forward, and then gripping hard on my collars. "Did you take any pictures?!"

"No, duh." I say with a deadpanned expression. Why the hell would I do that? She lets go in dismay over the fact that I could not be bothered to take pictures of guys sleeping together or playing UNO together.

Oi, she's seriously breaking down guys, what the hell is with this BL maniac?!

After a while, she – finally – manages to stop her anguish, slipping back to a persona that we are all not familiar with. With lips as straight as a line, it bends downwards a little bit, forming a smile that tips me off for some reason that I cannot explain. But, unlike her expression, her eyes are giving me all sorts of signals. They lack the confident air of a BL maniac, replaced by the eerie front of a wallflower.

"Then, I'll be counting on you from now on, Uzuki-kun."

I...can't promise you anything, Ebina. I can't promise anyone anything anymore. But I can promise myself that I'll try my best. I hear her chuckle, but I can clearly tell that it lacks the normal warmth to it.

In the end, I cannot even say anything.

Seconds later, Miura calls the bespectacled girl over in order to take some – and by some I mean a lot – pictures with the rest of her clique. I do not miss the glare that the Fire Queen sends my way, nor do I intend on not noticing it. I glance over at Hayama, who's awfully quiet. Ebina has quickly and easily slipped back to the persona we all know and... not quite love. Tobe is just... Tobe.

Looking around, my eyes land on a lone figure sitting on one of the benches underneath a tree dressed in the leaves of autumn. From here, she looks even prettier, because up close, she'll berate and insult you for being too close to her. Yes, I'm talking about Yukinoshita. My club president is sitting on that bench, underneath that tree all by her lonesome. Looks like she shares a trait with Ebina; they both are beautiful when they have their mouth shut.

I don't know what compels me, but my legs proceed to drag my body towards Yukinoshita's fortress of solitude. It's almost a sin to disturb the picturesque scene, but they find the need to walk over to her. Once I am within her hearing distance, she notices my presence immediately. Her expression changes slightly, from the pensive and melancholic shroud it is before, to a more acknowledging and – dare I say it – welcoming one.

"Hey."

"Oh, Uzumaki-kun, I thought they do not allow beggars in the temple grounds?"

...okay, forget the _welcoming_ part.

Seeing me walking towards her, she instinctively scoots over to the side, drawing up a space for me to sit on. I occupy the space she has 'graciously' drawn up for me.

"So, is there anything you want to report to me?"

It's interesting to note how she uses the word 'report' instead of 'talk' or 'say'. Yukinoshita Yukino really dislikes pointless banter, after all.

I can respect that.

"Miura... she's getting suspicious." I answer with a casual tone. "Scratch that. She knows what we're doing."

"Hm, I should've expected this sooner. So, did she say anything to you?"

I shrug. "If by 'say' you mean warning me to not mess around with the status quo of their clique... then, yeah, she did 'say' something to me." I look at Yukinoshita. "Tell me, Yukinoshita, how much do you want for this to be a success?"

She blinks, as if she doesn't expect me to ask her that particular question. "Success is our main goal, Uzumaki-kun."

"Yeah, I get it, but, what's the barometer for success here?"

Obviously, if we're to look at it from a shallow perspective, as long as Tobe ends up dating Ebina, then it's a success. But what about the collateral of our actions?

"With the kind of group dynamics they have going on, it's impossible to not have some sort of backlash, Yukinoshita." you should know this.

"Indeed." she whispers out. "If it continues like this... then there seems to be no chance of success in the first place." she says in a quiet tone. "Almost pointless, don't you think, Uzumaki-kun?"

Yeah, well, that's gotta cross our thoughts at least once.

"Still," she straightens her posture, crossing her legs in a feminine fashion. ", it is our duty as members of the Service Club to oversee and lend our hand until the very end. Regardless of how bitter it may be."

I sigh while scratching my chin. "There's no other way then." I shrug, returning my hand to my side. "Fine, let's see how this goes, we might just be wrong."

I'm not saying that Tobe has no chance of being with Ebina. Under different circumstances, he'll probably score the tail he's been looking at all this time. But the circumstance within their group is 'complicated' and is definitely not on his side. It takes a real asshole to separate a group of friends like that...

"Uzumaki-kun?"

"Hm?"

"You appear to be thinking for once, care to share?"

...this girl. "Nah, it's nothing."

A suspicious look is directed towards me. "Are you sure?"

"Positive."

A moment of quietness reigns. We watch as Yui interacts with Hayama's group, probably lost in conversation that she's forgotten about our job. Again.

* * *

Truly, one must admire pretty girls. With how potentially easy they can manipulate the other gender around, it's a miracle how street food stands in Kyoto hasn't gone bankrupt yet. I'm currently using my two club mates as a standard for 'pretty girls' here, since they're the only two that I can use at the moment.

Today is a free day, meaning all students are allowed to do their own sightseeing for the day. Exploiting this, we – the members of the Service Club – are using this opportunity to scout the local tourist hotspots for areas that might just help set the mood for Tobe's confession later tonight. Oh, and for the record, we also have our own shopping to do.

I bought things for Komachi the other day, so I got the whole day for myself today. Nice.

Yui has been busy. Ever since we split up with Hayama's group, an act that definitely arouses the suspicion of a certain fiery queen, she's been spending money on street food as if we're on a festival or some kind. Speaking of which, she pretty much did the same thing last time. Anyway, now, she's carrying with her a lot of food. But I suppose she's not worried a bit, considering how happily she's munching on that meat bun.

...meat bun eating meat buns...

"You're not going to have enough room for dinner if you eat too much, Yuigahama-san."

"Eeeh..."

"Don't worry Yukinoshita, unlike you, the food she eats won't go to her stomach."

I can feel the metaphorical knives of her glare piercing me at the side of my head. "What do you mean by that, Uzumaki-kun?"

"I'm saying that there are more ways to get fat." shrugging my shoulders, I attempt to diffuse the situation. "And Yui, you won't have enough money to spend on gifts if you keep on splurging on food."

"M-Moou..." she whines in a very childish manner. "You're not my mom, Maki, let me buy what I want..." pouting, she chomps on her half eaten meat bun again.

I sigh. This girl is such a kid...

"At least call me dad, Yui..."

"Fine, _dad_."

Hm... I see a pattern. Lifting a finger, I say, "Then, does that mean Yukinoshita's the mother?"

The sound of a meat bun filled paper bag hits the cement pavement we're walking on. This causes me to stop dead on my tracks and I soon realize that my club mates are pretty much no longer walking. Yui looks... aghast(?), as if she's learned that The Adventures of Pluto Nash is getting a second movie. While Yukinoshita, she's... well... she's basically what a tomato would've looked like if it was any redder.

Blinking, I wonder. "What?" Squatting down in order to pick up the fallen bag, thankfully nothing spilled, I stand up again to see that my club mates' expressions are unchanged. "What's wrong now?"

It's Yukinoshita who speaks first, still with a faint dust of redness on her cheeks. "U-Uzumaki-kun, you really do lack tact don't you?"

What does tact has to do with this? "I don't get it." I say lamely.

"...Maki's an idiot..."

Okay, what the hell have I done?

* * *

"C'mon... what did I do wrong, exactly, huh?"

"...won't talk to you."

"Ugh."

"A truly unfortunate situation, isn't it, Uzumaki-kun?"

Shut up you, I get the feeling that you're at fault too...

Currently, the three of us are lounging at a street cafe. The reason? Nonstop walking will tire you out, especially if you're a black haired and long haired girl. The two girls sit side by side while I occupy the space opposite of them. With elbows rested on the table top, back slouched and knees relaxed, I feel like I could just unwind like this anytime.

I analyze the two girls in front of me. Both have the letter Y in their names, but their physique and behaviors are different.

"Uzumaki-kun, please refrain from looking at me with those cheap eyes of yours."

 **Way** different.

I sigh. Where is the goddamn waitress? We ordered, like, eight minutes ago. How long does it take to make iced tea and coffee, huh?

"..."

"C'mon, Yui, I'm sorry." even though I don't know what I did wrong. "Forgive me?"

"..." still no answer.

I glance over to miss Ice Queen sitting beside the girl. "Oi, help me out over here."

Yukinoshita glances at me, is she judging me? Then, she sighs. "No. Sorry."

Wha?

Before I can ask why, our waitress chooses this exact moment to arrive and deliver our order. I ordered iced tea, without sugar, Yukinoshita's drinking coffee and... Yui didn't order anything. Whether she's doing it to guilt trip or something... yeah, she's probably guilt tripping me.

Sighing, looks like we won't talk after this. I then sip my drink.

Oh what the- I said **unsweetened**!

Ugh...

"M-Maki... if you let me have a sip... I-I'll forgive you."

Oh! Looks like she's willing to talk now. Finally...

"Here." I slide the glass of iced tea over to her. But she isn't drinking yet, she's staring at it. My eyebrows furrowed, clueless as to why is she not drinking. "What's wrong? I know it's sweet, but it ain't that sweet..." at least they don't fucking use corn syrup...

"N-Nothing, let me prepare a bit..."

Why in the nine hells would you need to prepare to drink an _iced tea_?

Finally, she takes a sip from the little bendy straw I sipped from earlie-eeeeeeh... oooh... ooh... oh...

...so it's like that, huh?

"W-What are you grinning at, M-Maki?"

Yeah, there's no hiding the wolfish grin on my face. "You're cute, Yui." I chuckle. "Not as cute as Komachi, but cute, nonetheless."

"Is that your standard for cuteness, Uzumaki-kun? Komachi-san?" my club president asks, after taking a sip of her black coffee. "As expected from a siscon."

"Well at least I don't use cats as a base for what I consider cute."

"...I fail to see the problem in that?"

"No, _you're_ the problem here."

"...huhehehehe... Maki called me cute..."

* * *

"Welcome to the bamboo fields motherfuckers!"

"Uzumaki-kun, the correct term is forest. And please, control your defunct mouth."

Aww, party pooper.

Now, we're at Arashiyama Bamboo Grove. And, uh, as obvious as it is, there are a lot of bamboos here. I don't know why Yukinoshita reprimanded me earlier, because there's literally no one else here but us! Well, I'm sure there are several other people here, but they are not within earshot. Everything around us is green and lush, it's like a rain forest, except with less leaves and more grass.

Bamboo is, after all, grass.

Thin, thick, short and tall ones... you can see them everywhere. Well, it's not like you can distinguish which one's which, since it's all lush. But there's a lot of bamboos here, the bottom line is that. The trail we are on is fairly narrow. If the three of us are to walk side by side, then we'll surely cover the breadth of the path.

In this early morning moment of the day, when there are barely people outside on the streets, it's as if we have the whole forest to ourselves. I feel tranquil, despite my earlier outburst. I can really feel whatever doubt or uncertainty I have earlier being washed away by the mesmerizing ambiance of nature. Using Sage Mode would allow me to feel more of the environment around me... but that's not possible. No more chakra, remember?

"This has to be it!"

"What is it now?" Yukinoshita and I look at Yui, wondering what her sudden exclamation is for.

"The place to... be confessed to..."

Now why does it sound like you're the one doing the confessing?

I mean, sure. This place can totally set the right mood. The cafe and other landmarks in the city don't seem like they'll provide the same kind of ambiance as here. Looking around, there are small lanterns on both sides of the path, serving as lighting at night. I can only imagine what confessing on this kind of place feels like, much less being confessed to.

"Indeed..." our black haired club president murmurs in what I assume to agreement. She glances around, taking in each scenic detail. "This is a very prominent location to set the mood for Kakeru-kun's confession."

We're not guaranteeing success, here. We're just aiding to it.

Hm... whaddaya know, Tobe, looks like it'll be one hell of a confession you'll be doing later.

* * *

Don't know if it's just the scene or what, but I can almost smell melancholy in the air. Not exactly pungent or tangible, but it's there. Imagine it as the smell of a freshly built asphalt road that you ride your bike on when going to school. Yeah, that's a pretty weird example... still, doesn't mean that things are going to be fine; we all know – other than Tobe – that things are, in fact, not going to be fine.

I feel like I'm trying to hard. But that's not a bad thing. As far as I'm concerned, I can try as hard as I want and people will still have no reason to judge me. I stopped caring at one point of this... eternal life I'm living and everything from that point just became, well, recorder-like.

I can easily view or look through my memories, pause it and stare at a particular scene for as long as I want. But as to why I did that; I can't really tell.

But with this, I like to think that I'm stretching my old bones. Even though the things I do now isn't as... exhausting as the things I used to do back then, I still like to think that I'm doing non-meaningless things.

The setting sun sure makes the overall scene and atmosphere of autumn even better. I guess this is one of the perk of staying in a country with all four seasons. But I'm not here to enjoy the scenery, at least not now.

Stepping through the dirt, I hum a small tune as I come to a stop once I reach the riverbank. With hands inside my school pants, I approach the young man standing at the edge of the bank who looks like he's about to jump into the water anytime soon.

"Hey." that's hell you're walking into. Hah.

The person turns his head, swiveling it until I can get a clear look of his face. The way he flashes that smile at me irks me a little bit. "Hey."

I walk a sizable distance, but nowhere near enough to be near him. Two blonde dudes standing at the edge of a riverbank. Honestly, this would make a pretty dapper album cover if it isn't so freaking gloom.

Since I spoke first, I guess I'll be the one who leads the convo. "You're being awfully uncooperative today."

If Hayama is truly a 'nice guy' like everyone else thought he is, then he will not be here standing and brooding.

"Am I?"

I blow a fallen leaf that threatens to land on my nose away, watching it as it cascades down slowly to the ground. "Yeah, you were. In fact, it almost feels like you're trying to get in the way."

He was, in fact, very subtle at this.

He opens his mouth-

"And don't tell me that you didn't mean to do that."

It's as if his smile is never even there, even if it was there, it's like the wind has blown it away like tiny grain of sands on this riverbank.

He sighs, and it's probably one of the genuine ones that I've heard from him. "I don't want things to change."

I raise an eyebrow. "Why, is it because you're afraid of it?"

"No." he says to me after a few seconds of thinking. "I just... don't want our friendship to break from this." that's pretty normal. "So-"

"But if this is all it takes to tear you apart, then it doesn't sound like you guys were good friends at all." I know it's rude to cut him off like this, but when have I give a fuck about being rude?

"Yeah... you're probably right." huh, he's broken after all. "But, even so, is it wrong to want that?"

I can answer that immediately.

So, I did.

"No, it ain't wrong."

I take the rising of his eyebrows as a sign for me elaborate. "It ain't wrong, the same way that I'm not wrong when I say that you guys're probably weren't good friends to begin with."

Kicking sand, I gaze out to the space in front of me.

"The way I see it, this is a form of test for this so called 'friendship' of yours. What better way to prove that you have real friends other than to test it with fire?"

I pause.

"But friendship – or just relationships in general – isn't always eternal. One small move may just shatter it into millions of pieces and this may just happen to you guys later, tonight."

"Then what do you suppose I do, wallow over it helplessly?"

Oho, this is the first time I see him snap.

Too bad my eyes are not cameras.

Smiling, I look at him. "Sometimes, the words that you want to hear and the words that you need to hear are so very different." I say. "But, at this point, you're not hearing things anymore."

I ignore the mild breeze that passes through.

"It's not wrong to want something... elusive, that much I'll tell you..."

Looking up, I just notice how... red the sky is.

"What's wrong is not being able to prove that you want it."

I can hear his breath hitching. I may have gone too far, but Hayama needs a slap on the wrist. He thinks that not doing anything will, somehow, do things. But it's wrong. While playing the waiting game may produce results, it won't let him reach his end goal.

It may feel like I'm scolding him, but that's not something I'm trying to do here. I don't like scolding people. It makes me feel like a hypocrite, even if they do need to be reminded that they're fucking up. I don't feel like I have the rights to do something like scolding other people.

I'd smoke if I have my cigar and lighter with me...

"The bottom line is: don't be such a passive player. Don't hope. Don't even wish for things to go your way. Because, inevitably, they'll go wrong, as expected."

What else...

"Oh, and don't be shy to ask for your elder's advice."

Hirtasuka-sensei will fill that place just fine.

"I..."

I raise an eyebrow.

"I... hate how I can only turn to you at this very moment." well, at least he's being honest. "I... feel different from you."

"Well no shit." I deadpan. "You're you, I'm me. And who cares about me, hm?" rolling my eyes, I refrain from making him feel even more inferior than he is already now.

And who has to care about the words I say?

Hayama is trying to protect something more fragile than he is, even if he's fully aware that he isn't capable of supporting that weight alone. It's useless, pointless, illogical... futile, basically.

But, damn, if it isn't normal.

* * *

Cue the dramatic music.

All of us, with the exception of Miura and Ebina herself – though the latter will be here shortly, are here back at the bamboo grove. I shouted my earlier fix of 'WELCOME TO THE BAMBOO FIELDS' already and I got punched by Yukinoshita, so, I'm more or less satisfied now.

Tobe, the man of the hour himself, is looking more nervous than a Tokyo-U student facing his finals.

Yukinoshita, Yui and I are occupying one corner of the path, while Hayama and two of Tobe's friends occupy the other end. Honestly speaking, this is a pretty bad hiding spot. I mean, I can just tell already, Ebina will definitely know what we're up to. In fact, I think she already knows.

Anyway, Tobe's going to confess. Hayama doesn't want him to confess. Ebina's gonna reject Tobe. And, in the end, everything will become awkward in their group for the next year or so.

And they're asking us to somehow solve this puzzle.

What a fucking mess. It's surprising we even got this far.

"...Tobe's gonna get rejected." I don't even hesitate.

"...he is, isn't he?" You lost fifty percent of your rights to be sad when you agree with me, Yui.

"Then... what can we do now?"

I shrug. "Cross your fingers and pray, I guess. If this fails, we'll chalk it up as our first failure."

"...such an easygoing attitude is not very commendable, Uzumaki-kun." I can feel a slight glare from Yukinoshita. "But... it seems that there is no helping it, in this case."

Yeah. You can't force love. Nor can you force people to love you.

But what's the harm in trying?

Looking at Tobe, who's a sweating and shaking wreck at this point, I can just feel insecurity and nervousness leaking out from his very being. Looks like he wasn't lying about being bad when it comes to this kind of things...

I can go and give the guy a good luck, but what purpose will that serve, huh? Luck ain't gonna save him, hell, it wasn't even there on his side in the first place.

In fact, I feel very unlucky from just watching Tobe.

As the silence goes on, we can hear small, soft footsteps approaching our location. It's Ebina. And yeah, I'm right. It is indeed Ebina. She looks... ready, prepared, even.

Yeah, she totally knows.

It's like watching a Clint Eastwood film, except this one has no killing, squinting or spitting... just... hurting.

"Maki, what're you doing jotting down notes at this moment!"

Don't whisper so close to my ears, Yui. "I'm gathering references. I told Tobe that I was gonna do this at some point later..." sheesh.

Back with the pair, it seems that Tobe is so close to pulling the trigger.

"A-Ano, Ebina-san!"

"Yes?"

The dude's basically roasted nuts at this point; his brain is no longer capable of supplying him with the words he need to speak.

"I... I..."

C'mon man, just say it, so that we can all go home. Do you know how many times I've been bitten by mosquitoes?

"I like you, ple-

Finally!

"UZUMAKI-KUN!"

...huh?

All of us, and by that I mean all of us, turn our heads towards the direction from where my name comes from at the same exact moment. We see a haggard looking person, leaning on the bamboos as she heaves and pants to catch her breath.

Her collar is disheveled, her blazer is loosely around the sleeves area and judging from how heavy her panting is – can hear her all the way from here – even and idiot could tell that she ran in order to get here.

"Sagamin, w-what is she doing here? Maki?"

I don't... know...

Sagami Minami, once she has regained enough energy, walks forward. Her intention is obvious.

Me.

What is she doing here?! I thought that we picked this place privately!?

Without looking anywhere else, and by that I mean she immediately focuses all attention to me, she says, "Uzumaki-kun, your answer."

I cannot _not_ give her an answer at this point.

Now, all attention are shifted to me. Us. Sagami and I.

I sigh.

"Sorry, but... I can't accept your feelings. Things like dating someone... I don't think I can do something like that properly, at least, now. But maybe, in the future... yeah."

That is way more awkward than I thought it'd be.

Sagami steps back, lips tightening. I can see her hands balling into fists. Then she... sighs.

In relief?

"I'm... glad..."

Wait, you are?

"I'm glad that I still have a chance." looking up to meet my eyes, Sagami smiles, but not before wiping a drop of tear from the corner of her eyes. "I won't give up now, Uzumaki-kun, so, be ready."

Everyone gasps.

Whether it's the Devil, God or whatever higher form of power that manages to manipulate Sagami... they did a pretty good job of compelling her to pull me down by the tie and then crashing her lips to mine. She has her eyes closed, while I have mine as wide as saucers.

Five seconds passed... ten seconds... fifteen... then twenty.

We finally parted. And the moment we do, I scramble back to my personal space, awe struck at the sheer... bravery that this girl displays.

Touching her lips, Sagami's smile turns into something that Haruno will probably show when she's on a good day. "That's compensation for the number of times you're going to make me wait, Uzumaki-kun."

Raising her hand, she waves it sideways slowly, almost as if she's promising us a return.

"Catch you later, Uzumaki-kun."

Then... she bounds off the scene, all the while 'kyaaa'ing and cheering.

They say that everyone's first kiss is always special. Well, jokes on them, mine wasn't. And don't ask why... but... the thing with Sagami just now was special in its own way. There was no spark to it at all, it was just... a train of emotion hitting me right in the face. It was pure, intense, feeling. Almost as if Sagami needed an outlet to vent her... smoochy-smoochy desires on. Being deluded in 'loving' me, she finds me to be the best – and only – candidate to vent this feeling on.

So she did.

In front of these other people!

Now... what should I say?

Raising my hand, I open my mouth,

"I swear to you, that wasn't staged."

* * *

 **Not gonna lie, this was a pain in the ass to write. I have to be very descriptive here, but as you can see, I probably failed in doing that here. I put too much feelings and thoughts into every little thing, and the fact that this story is in 1st person doesn't help.**

 **But, oh well, no use crying over spilled milk.**

 **Now, ignoring my shortcomings aside, I would like to thank the one hundred thousand plus of you who has taken the time to view this story. We've broken a hundred thousand views and I'm very happy with that.**

 **Yes, no joke.**

 **Never thought that this crappy story will get that much attention, tbh. With all its flaws... even I cringed, and I'm the freaking author!**

 **Well, in any case, thank you guys, stay creative.**


	20. For all it's worth

They say that the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina cost the U.S around a hundred and eight billion dollars worth of property damage. And that's excluding the additional expenses put into reformations and reconstruction. To make things worst, the disastrous storm caused several substantial amount of environmental damage. Islands were damaged, oil spills, lands were devastated... in short, it was a fucking shit storm and a major pain the ass to clean.

The same goes for this shit storm I'm in, though not so much financially or environmentally, it'll still be a pain to clean up.

Last night, after the stunt Sagami pulled, Tobe played pussy and decided not to confess to Ebina; making the whole the whole thing look like one pointless roundabout. When asked why he decided not to confess by Hayama, he said,

 _'Well, uh, after seeing Uzuki-kun rejecting Sagami-chan like that, I like, dunno if I can stand the feeling of being rejected.'_

...thanks to my misfortune, Hayama and his clique gets to live another day happily. God fucking dammit. I had hoped for them to learn a lesson from Tobe getting rejected, but my luck just had to go against me last night.

Now, look here, not that I want Tobe to be rejected or anything – though I wouldn't think more of him even if he got accepted – a part of me felt the need to see them struggle and hoped for them to learn how to be a stronger group even after something like that. These kids are still kids, yes, but they can't just stay lax forever.

Especially those who are clueless like Tobe. At least Hayama, Miura and Hayama himself are aware that things haven't been going so smoothly within their clique, but them not doing anything somehow pisses me off.

Hah. See me here grumbling like the old decrepit man I am. Life is both the best and worst teacher anyone can get, and unlike school teachers or cram school instructors, life's lessons and teachings will exist for an entire lifetime.

Times infinity of that for me, yippee...

I remember returning back to the inn feeling a little bit more miserable than usual, and by a little bit I mean a fuckton more miserable. Thankfully, Tobe's group dynamic managed to prevent things from becoming too quiet and awkward. And I don't know whether it's due to his poor memory retention or short attention span or just him being courteous of me, but Tobe didn't become a pest and berate me anything about Sagami the other night.

Still... within my own territory, the Service Club, we didn't exactly say anything to each other. I was too busy feeling miserable and Yui and Yukinoshita probably felt awkward talking to me. Or, maybe, they consider me as an even bigger jerk now for rejecting a girl who literally ran all the way from the station into a bamboo forest in order to confess her love to me.

Shit...

When has things ever been easy?

Like the Navy SEALs would say... the only easy day was yesterday.

So, it's safe to say that shit's gonna get even tougher from now on.

I barely miss Sagami's cheerful smile as she and her friends walk past me, giggling and all that. I can't even return her look, much less smile back at her.

Since today is our last day in Kyoto, we're all carrying our luggage with us. I packed light, bringing only shirts and basic hygiene need, so I'm not one of those guys who has to drag around a suitcase. This bug-out bag is more than enough to carry my necessities. Unlike the rest of my peers who are downstairs waiting for the train to arrive on the platform, I am upstairs on the station waiting for someone to join me.

This 'someone' is someone who'll owe me after the event last night.

A lot.

Underneath the warm skies of Kyoto, I feel a little bit of sadness knowing that I must part with this amazing prefecture so soon. Though four days are more than enough for me to enjoy the local attractions, I haven't feel attracted enough to the city as a whole. Oh well, I guess I know where I'll go for summer vacation next year.

"Ayaya... sorry for the wait, Uzuki-kun!"

"...took you long enough, fujoshi."

Ebina Hina is a sly girl. Slier than I expect her to be. She is also a selfish girl, that, I just learned last night.

Running towards me, she's dressed in her uniform – like we all are – and her glasses glint underneath the reflection of sunlight. Tilting her head sideways, I can see the smile on her face as clear as day; but it ain't as bright. In fact, nothing about her at the moment seems to spell out bright or good news.

Well, this girl texted me earlier saying that she wanted to talk to me in private. The moment I received her text message, all things suddenly clicked.

And you'll see why.

"So, so, how are you today, Uzuki-kun?" she asks me. Looks like she's finally ready to start this talk.

Crossing my arms, I look skyward, my eyes squinting underneath the shine of the sun. "Oh I'm peachy, Ebina-san. How about you?"

I hear her chuckle, but can't quite confirm whether it is nervousness or guilt that laced her laughter. "I'm fine, very fine in fact." I finally drop my gaze to look at her. "Aaaand I have you to thank for that, actually."

"Answer me three questions, Ebina-san."

"Okies."

First question. "Why Sagami?"

She shuffles around, becoming fidgety on her spot as if she's trying to recall a believable reason. Her eyes shine like a pair of light bulbs. I assume she's found a reason?

"Well, I heard from everyone that Sagami-san confessed to you during the school festival. So, she's the perfect person for the job."

Yes, the perfect person for you to use. Even if I give Ebina the benefit of the doubt of not knowing about Sagami's confession, I still can't help but feel irked that it is someone that I do not completely know about being used around like that.

"Okay..." I breathe out. "Next question: what about Hayama? Or just your group in general, how's things with them now?"

"Oh it went along smoothly." she waves me off with her small hands, laughing it off, even. "Everyone was acting like it never happened in the first place. And Tobecchi's smart enough to not talk about it! In fact, I think we've gotten closer!"

I'm... not sure if I can believe that.

"Suuuure." I cough. "Then last question..."

She raises an eyebrow. Pulling out my phone, I show it to her. With a very straight face. "How in the nine hells do you know my phone number?"

Blinking, Ebina then bursts into a fit of giggles.

What? I'm being serious here, woman!

"O-Oh... that... well, ufufufu..." yeah, yeah, take your time. After she finally gets a hold of herself, literally, she speaks again, "Tell me, Uzumaki-kun, it was you yourself who filled in the registration papers when you apply for Soubu, right?"

"Yeah." I... of course, yeah, duh. Orphan, remember? But I don't suppose she knows.

Letting out a smaller fit of giggles, she looks at me funny. "Then, do you even know what type of phone number did you put in that paper?"

"Well, my pho-oooooh." I pause. "Oh."

"Yeah," she snorts. "Oh."

...damn, I haven't changed phone numbers for that long, huh...? I need to change sometime in the future! Like a very disappointed father – except I disappointed myself – I slap my palm to my face. I can already hear Ebina's giggling getting even louder and louder. So much for being a ninja...

From the shameful position I'm in right now, I peek through my hands to look at Ebina. "...can you at least tell me how did you manage to look through my registration papers, please."

"Well, that's where my position as a faculty helper comes into work!"

You look proud revealing this, what, you have fun being the teacher's pet?

"Before the trip, after I consulted the Service Club about my quote on quote... problem, in fact, I was arranging some old documents in the faculty office for a teacher who's away on leave. The documents I was in charge of happened to have the registration papers for our class, 2-F! Curious, I browsed to see if I can see any good boys to pair-"

Wow.

"-but then, I stumbled on your paper!" she exclaims with a smile on her face. "What's weird about your document is that you filled in your landline number with a phone number, exactly the same as the phone number you already filled in there."

I can see her smile thinning a little bit.

"And, seeing this, I cannot not use this as a chance to save myself." interesting word to use there, 'save'. "So... I was on a small chat with some of the girls from class and – they're talking about boys – and I know of Sagami-chan's confession. So, I leaked your number to her."

"And you thought it was a good idea?"

The smile remains there on her face. "At that time, yes." then, she lets out a dry chuckle. "Now... still, yes."

"I see..." sighing, I can already feel wrinkles appearing on my face.

"You're... not mad, Uzuki-kun?"

Opening my eyes slowly, I look at her with owl like eyes. "Mad? Why? Why on the name of Bob Marley would I be mad?"

Now, it's Ebina's turn to blink like an owl. "But I just... invaded your privacy... and gave out your number to another person."

I roll my eyes. "Sure, that's not cool, but it isn't really the biggest offense you could ever do to me." snorting, I grin. "It'll take something like you, somehow, getting ramen banned from Japan or something like that."

Which is, like, impossible.

"But aside from the fact that I'm... currently uncomfortable with what has transpired last night, we're cool." Is this what meant by burying the hatchet? Not the literal one, but the figurative one?

"Hahaha... you're so funny, Uzuki-kun." she wipes a stray tear from the corner of her eyes. Apparently, I'm so funny she's crying. "Maybe if it was you who confessed, I would've accepted it!"

"I thought you shipped me and Hayama?"

"Oh, I still do even now! HAYA x NARU WILL ALWAYS BE MY OTP!"

Oi, we're outside! Don't shout like that!

After she's done cackling like a BL obsessed maniac, which she basically is, her laughter dies down. "...but in all seriousness, Uzuki-kun, I think I owe you an apology at least for making things... awkward between your fellow club members."

Yeah, you at least do owe me for that.

I shrug my shoulders. "Don't worry, by the time we reach Chiba, Yukinoshita will already be back to insulting me and Yui will return to her ditzy and air headed self in no time!" I give her a thumbs up pose very reminiscent to a certain eccentric pair back then.

"Uwaah, you're mean, Uzuki-kun, just like they all say!"

"Who?!"

* * *

You know that feeling when you wake up in the morning, thinking that things will be different, and when things finally do get different, it just doesn't feel right to you?

It's kind of what I'm feeling right now.

I do my routines, as usual. Wake up, wash my face, cook breakfast, eat breakfast, do my business in the bathroom, brush my teeth and then get myself ready for school. There's nothing different about that part of the morning.

What's different, however, is something else. Something that I can't quite put my finger on.

Meh, I'll deal with it later.

Deciding that it's, probably, better for me to think about it at a later time; I decide to focus on what's more important at the present time. I need concentration riding my bike, you know. This isn't that sissy automatic motorcycle I'm steering, it's a bike.

Reaching school and entering it, nothing seems different. It almost makes me feel like I'm returning to an old routine that I thought has left me, but then I remember that this has always been my routine.

"Yoho~ Uzumaki-kun!"

In the names of my ancestors, even I do not expect to have someone latch on to me first thing first the moment I reach my classroom's door. I don't know if it's just me or am I being too self conscious but... this person is definitely doing this for the attention.

Ah, I almost forget.

This 'person' is none other than Sagami Minami herself; my classmate and former Head Chairman of the festival committee that I participated in a while back ago. And as to why she's clinging to me like some sort of self proclaimed accessory... I can only guess that it has something to do with the stunt she pulled back at Kyoto.

As soon as she calls out my name and latch herself on to me, I can already feel the stares directed at me.

Of course, I can't just ignore them this time. I mean, if this is your normal stare-at-Naruto session with me being a creep as the main reason, I won't have any problem ignoring them. But this is different because someone else is involved.

"Sagami... good morning." I can't believe that's the only thing I can say.

"Morning to you too, Uzumaki-kun." she may be smiling, good for her. But not for me.

"Hm, say, can you let go of me?" I really try to not sound like a dick, but I can't help myself from sounding so.. flat when saying that. "I need to go to my seat."

"Sure!" she releases the grasp on my hand, still smiling as if she's just ate some fancy Christmas dinner somewhere in a high class restaurant. After releasing me, she uses three of her fingers to blow a kiss my way, sending shivers down my spine.

"So, Uzumaki-kun, you have an answer for me now?"

I almost tripped on my way to my seat. Looking around, I grimace. We're being watched like a Spanish TV novella.

"No, no I don't." I pause. "Say, can we not talk about this now?"

"Oh, so you'll meet me at lunch?"

"Yes." Wait. "No, wait, no."

"Great!" she pumps her first to the air like a kid who's won some beyblade tournament. "I'll text you later, Uzumaki-kun!"

And just like that, she drifts outside of the classroom. I sigh. I can still feel everyone's stare lingering at me, officially, this is something that I can't just diffuse.

...hm... should I put a large scale genjutsu and make everyone forget what happened in the past fifteen minutes?

Nah... the CCTV cameras won't make that easy.

"Ma...ki...?"

I turn my head, finding myself staring at a newcomer who has just entered the classroom. I find myself unable to muster a proper smile, much less keep a straight face on, hence why I settle with the smile. Waiving a small hand, I greet my pink haired classmate.

"Yui."

"M-Morning, Maki..." she walks up towards her seat first to drop off her bag, before continuing to mine. "Uh... I just saw Sagami-chan outside looking all giddy... say, did something... d-did something happen?"

I see no reason to hide it from her. Shrugging, I answer her question, "She... misinterpret what I said, and now, I'll be meeting her for lunch."

"O-Oh... so, you won't come to the club room for l-lunch later?" I can already imagine the pair of droopy dog ears on top of her head. I feel compelled to ruffle or just make a mess of her neatly groomed hair, but I have enough getting stared at by people today, so I refrain from doing that.

"I can't say, but I'll try doing something about it." And by 'it' I mean Sagami.

"Okay..."

Sadly for me, this is not a misunderstanding. It would've been easier for me to handle if Sagami, let's say, intended for the confession to be for Hayama but instead people thought that it was me she confessed to. But no, she had to actually harbor feelings for me and confess to me in front of 2-F students that night... and Yukinoshita.

Well, whatever, I'll deal with that later, right now... homeroom's on the way.

* * *

"Uzumaki-kun, over here!"

When she texted that she wants to meet up with me to have lunch, I texted her back saying that I won't eat anywhere else other than at the rooftop. It's cliché, I know, but you can never go wrong with eating on a Japanese school's roof. Besides, eating is going to be fifty percent of what we're going to do.

The other half's at talking.

Raising an eyebrow, I can't believe that she's set up an entire blanket to be used as cover against the floor. She has her own lunch set up and I have cupped ramen with me all poured with hot water and ready to be eaten.

Walking towards the prepared location, I try to maintain a casual gesture as I take a seat on the clothed surface.

"Eeeh... so what they say about you eating instant ramen for lunch at school is true after all..."

I shrug. I don't see anything wrong with that. "There's nothing wrong with that statement." I pause, looking at my noodles impatiently. "Let's dig in already."

"Sure, Uzumaki-kun."

As we dig into our respective lunches, I cannot help but feel a little sense of deja vu.

Wait, have I done this before?

Meh, if I don't remember it, I guess it wasn't important.

In between slurping noodles, I speak, "You're really going along with this whole... romance deal, huh?"

Sagami pauses momentarily, before giving me a smile that I find to be very uncanny when seen formed on her face. "Am I bothering you, Uzumaki-kun?"

Honestly speaking, I don't expect her to ask that right off the bat. Stirring my high sodium instant noodle broth, I'm not sure on how to answer that.

"Well, it's not like I can do anything about it..." So much for doing anything. "It's something as allogical as love, even I know better than to do anything to stop it."

"Then you're not bothered by it?"

...she got me.

Sagami giggles. She must've seen the less than desirable expression I'm making.

"I've... always thought that high school crushes were fake. I mean, sure, I've had crushes before but they always go by my head at a certain point."

Oh God, now I'm listening to her reminiscing.

"I've had boys confess to me even until now."

Thankfully, I don't.

"Some of them were... good candidates, but I wasn't very confident that things will work out between us."

Oho, this seems new. "What makes you think-"

"What makes me think that things will work out between me and you is because I know that things won't in the first place."

Whaaaa?

"Hold on." I put my ramen down. This is needs to be clarified. "So, you think that reverse psychology is useful here?"

Laughing at, or the face I'm making to be exact, Sagami then elaborates. "My first impression of you wasn't very good, Uzumaki-kun. But I'm, like, a hundred percent sure that you know that."

Gee, jerk.

"I thought that you're just a good for nothing yankee who's only good at skipping classes, cause trouble for the teachers and-"

I stop her. I have to. This is still me she's talking shit about. "Can we please just... move on...?"

"Oh, er, yeah. Sorry." she coughs. But I'm perfectly sure that she's just hiding her laughter. "Imagine the person you have such a very... low opinion for turning out to be one of the realest and best person you've ever known in a very long time."

Picking up my ramen again, I then give Sagami a skeptical look. I really hate leaving my ramen unattended like this but looks like talking is fifty five percent of what we're going to do.

"I'll have to disagree with that last point." I tell her while bringing strings of noodles close to my mouth. "I'm as real as the other person sitting next to you in class." I then proceed to slurp down the ramen I've gathered.

I see Sagami shake her head. "No, you don't, like, get it, Uzumaki-kun." Her expression morphs into that of bitterness, one that I do not find natural. "Out of all the people that I've met, especially the guys, you're the first one who's able to disagree with me properly."

"But I never-"

"During the school festival." My mouth snaps shut. "It took me the last day of the festival to figure out what you've been doing." despite that, she's smiling. "It takes one heck of a guy to work a girl like that, you know?"

So I've been caught using her. Should I feel sorry?

Just for the heck of it, I'll tell her. "...don't expect me to feel sorry."

Again, Sagami shakes her head. "No, in fact, it should be me who feel sorry. You had to do all that just to get me to work." She lets out a long sigh which is uncharacteristic of her image. "Just imagine if you didn't do that..."

Oh, trust me, I can do better than just imagine.

Our talking stops and the ever so familiar moment of silence descends – or should I say ascend – to the roof. So far, Sagami's been beating around the bush. Though I'm, thankfully, clever enough to read in between the lines to see where her speech is going; I'd rather she spare me the time.

I don't wanna sound like that guy, but, lunch's almost over.

"I... think the bottom line is... well..." she has not touched her lunch ever since the beginning of our talk. "I... I was moved by the way you've changed me. At least the way you've made me change my ways of doing things. Doing all of those committee work back then made me realize that, well, it's not always fun and games." she chuckles.

"My friends, they called me a quitter."

...and now the gult trip starts.

"Well, what do you expect, those paper works need time to finish. Even until now we don't talk anymore."

Hm, it's kinda true. Sagami's one of the people in my class who'd make the most noise, next only to Hayama's group. But lately, I haven't been hearing that. Even during the Kyoto trip, I didn't see her with anyone in particular.

"But... Uzumaki-kun, if that is all it takes to change and, maybe, be a better person... I think I don't mind losi-"

"No." I stop her. I have to stop her. "No."

I set my ramen down again.

"In the name of all that is holy and right, don't... finish that statement."

Sagami gives me a look which is a borderline between confusion and... fear. I realize, I'm using my... what I now dub as 'Shinobi Voice and Expression'. The same kind'a expression and voice you'd see ninjas would use on civilians in order to show authority back in the day.

I sigh. I don't know where to start here. But I know that feeling guilty isn't going to help me feel better.

"Sagami... for all that matters, I never wanted your friends to leave you in the first place."

I let that statement sink into her brain.

"I'll admit, though, I was kinda annoyed about how easily you picked me as your Vice Chairman during the selection." I pause, rethinking my words. "And the fact that you did so to spite one of my friends, that's when you've crossed my line."

I feel sorry that I make her flinch with the kind of tone I'm using.

"...then... I did something wrong after all, huh?"

For the love of... "No, Sagami, you did-"

"THEN WHY ARE YOU UPSET WHEN I STOPPED YUI!?"

...

It's as if Sagami knows dragon language. She blows the air of comfort and normalcy we have going on earlier to oblivion and sets it back to tense silence.

Her face is cherry red, but not from embarrassment. She's not even sitting down anymore, she's standing on her two feet, looking mighty mad at me. Her eyes burn with the ferocity of an agitated tiger, threatening to pounce at me to inflict harm on my immortal body. But it's not physical harm I'm about to receive, nor is it the kind that'll leave scars on my body.

Though I'd rather have that than what I'm about to get.

"I've been observing you ever since the festival ended, Uzumaki-kun. You're always so carefree and chill about the things people do and say to you!" her voice is like a gas pipe leaking. "Every day you'd spend your day sleeping in on lessons, but at the same time, you'd still have enough time to speak with people like Hayato-kun and his gang and Yui!"

"It's always them! It didn't help me since you didn't give me an answer due to the interruption we got from Hayato-kun, but couldn't you at least give me an answer after that, huh? What were you doing?! You ignored me for them! You left me unanswered, worrying that you've forgotten about that time on the roof, and you basically played dumb just so that you can avoid seeing me."

I can't speak. I'm speechless.

"I tried to approach you but every day, the thought of you forgetting that moment on the roof, or just me, weighs me down immensely. I was scared that you'd reject me. I was scared that you'd avoid me. I was scared that you'd dismiss me as one of those unimportant people."

"But you've been avoiding me anyway."

The gas has leaked long enough, what comes out now is just the squeaking of what's leftover inside.

"I-I-I... It took me everything just to write that text message to you!" You can see something sparkling at the edge of her eyes. "A-And I was s-so very happy that I got to talk to you again on that bridge." she gulps down whatever's been welling up in her system. "E-Even I had to result to asking for someone's help in order to get to you... just so that I could talk and convey everything to you..."

"But all I got in the end was a half baked, vague as shit answer that still makes me worry even until now."

…

Her voice has long past the stuttering threshold. She's sniffing and hiccuping. Tears stain her cheeks, going past her chin. Her lunch has, no doubt, grown cold due to the lack of attention. The same goes for my ramen... and my appetite too apparently.

Sagami won't take words for an answer. Words won't cut it now. Words can't bandage the wound I've inflicted on her. She wants something realer, something more solid.

She wants an action.

"A-A-At least... I-I-If I h-have no chance t-to be with you... a-at least tell m-me..."

I want to block out her sob, but I can't. I'm still far too human to do something like that.

...but what I'm about to do next is something way worse.

"Sagami." she looks at me through glassy eyes. "Thank you for being honest."

I smile.

"But my answer is not the one you want to hear." I can feel the moment her heart breaks just from looking at her eyes.

"So to make things easier... I can make you forget about ever loving me."

She takes a step back. "W-What?"

"You won't even feel a thing. I promise you that."

"N-No, what? How?"

I shake my head, still smiling. "It's complicated."

She looks around, looking might uncertain. Either she thinks I'm cray cray on the hay hay, or just plain dumb. I don't care.

"You... don't want to feel hurt after hearing my answer, right?"

I can see her struggling to nod. I can see her wanting to nod and confirm what I've said, but she can only sob and answer me in incoherent crying noises.

"I'd... rather you accept this, Sagami." that way, the both of us won't have to feel miserable after this.

"I... I... no... no... Uzumaki-kun..."

The bell rings, telling us that it's the end of lunch time. But we're so lost in our own world that we choose to ignore it.

A myriad of expressions cross Sagami's face. I can recognize sadness, shock, anger even something as deep as regret. But I never expect her to swallow in air, recompose herself and then look straight into my eyes with red puffy eyes. What I don't expect even more, is the smile that slowly forms on her lips.

"...i-if that's what you think is best, Uzumaki-kun... then... I'll accept."

My brain trembles.

My lips are sewn tighter than a rag doll.

I clench my fists once to reaffirm my resolve.

"Besides, what kind of person I'd be if I don't have faith in the person I love?"

Those're the magic words.

My hands snap faster than the normal human eyes can ever hope to see, forming a ram seal. I flare my chakra, something that I have not done in some time, in order to execute what I'm about to do. She just stands there, unmoving, smiling... as if she's completely put her trust on me.

She has _trusted_ me to **erase** her _feelings_.

The words are nothing but a mere whisper that escapes my mouth,

" **...Kioku Shohi no Jutsu."**

...chalk it up to my list of fucked-up-things-Naruto-has-done.

* * *

Waking up, her head feels very dizzy. She can feel a cold, hard surface on her back, causing her to wince as she attempts to move and shift her body. Her bangs covering her vision, she parts her hair so that she can see clearly. After a good ol' session of eye rubbing, she can finally see her surrounding.

"Wha... What am I doing... on the roof...?"

Yes, she's on the roof.

Minami Sagami blinks drowsily. Her head still feels too heavy to be lifted, so she uses the wall and her hands in order to support her weight. Looking around, this time more carefully, she sees the half-eaten bento box sitting next to her. No doubt cold, now.

"My lunch...?" she tilts her head sideways. "Wait, I was eating here?"

Then, the realization hits her like a brick.

"Oh crap! I have a lecture right now! Hiratsuka-sensei's class!"

No one can blame her for being scared.

Without thinking, she packs her lunchbox with the lid it comes with. And as soon as she's done doing that, she runs down the stairs, going through two flights of stairs to reach the floor where her classroom is at.

But, and this is just common sense speaking, you shouldn't run in the hallways, especially school halways.

You can always bump into people you never know of.

And that's exactly what happened.

"Ow!"

"...ugh."

Thankfully, Sagami does not fall, or else she'll be very irritated. Looking up, she glares at the person who has bumped into her. Her irritation increasing when she sees who it is.

"Watch where you're going, creep!"

"Yeah, yeah."

Huffing, the purple haired girl begins running again, this time, she's getting closer to her classroom. Making a turn for the next hall, she sees her classroom's door and once she's reached the classroom's door, she realizes,

"Wait... wasn't that guy in my class?"

* * *

Life is already bitter... so, at least, the things I drink should at least be sweet.

But the problem is: I don't really like sweet things.

Sure, they're enjoyable at certain times, but I can only consume so much. This applies to drinks and food beverages. Looking at the can of carbonated drink I've ordered from the vending machine, I cannot help but snort at what I'm doing.

Meh, it's not like I'll die from diabetes.

Here's me cracking open a cold one to wash down the fact that I'm one miserable prick.

I take a sip from the can. I mean, it's no Pepsi, but anything'll do at this point. But, still, I prefer beer.

The vending machines that we got during the school festival are supposed to be return to the company that lent them to us, but they allowed us to keep this one as a sign of good faith for the next school festival.

Quickly finishing my can of soda by chugging it down, something that I regret doing, I choke and cough when I manage to finish every single last drop of coke. I dump the can into the correct part of the recycling can; wouldn't want to offend some people now would I?

 **Vrr Vrr!**

"Hm?"

 **From: Yui-Yui (** **づ｡◕‿‿◕｡** **)** **づ** **gahama-yahallo~!**

 **To: Uzumaki Naruto  
Re: where r u?**

 **Maki! Where r u? Yukinon and I are waiting for u the club room!  
Plz reply!**

Oh God, I forgot how cringey her caller ID is...

I sigh. You just have to wonder... some people...

 **I'm on the way. Wait 4 me.**

There I text her back.

Vrr...

Instantly?!

 **From: Yui-Yui (** **づ｡◕‿‿◕｡** **)** **づ** **gahama-yahallo~!**

 **To: Uzumaki Naruto  
Re: where r u?**

 **Okies! Sorry for bothering u!  
**

Hm, she may be annoying, but you have to admit, it's kinda cute for her to send me a message like this. Oh well, I guess I better go to club now.

"Maki, Maki, s-so... how did it go with Sagami-chan at lunch earlier?"

Yui's sudden question results in me at the receiving end of our club president's undivided attention. I swear, she was just reading a book seconds ago.

"Ara, you had lunch with Sagami-san earlier today, Uzumaki-kun?" she asks me.

Putting down my tea mug, I give Yui a gaze. "Didn't I tell you that during first period, Yui?"

Then, Yukinoshita's gaze shifts over to Yui. "Why wasn't I made aware of this, Yuigahama-san?" she looks... mad.

"Ehehe... I-I was so worried so... I forgot?"

…

Yukinoshita and I sigh at the same time. She's luck she's cute.

"So, anyway, what did Sagami-chan say?"

I pick up my tea, shrugging my shoulders afterwards. "Meh, it's all cleared up now."

"What do you mean by that, Uzumaki-kun." Of course, I'll need to provide a better explanation than that. I might be able to fool Yui, but it'll take me more to fool Yukinoshita.

"I managed to talk her out of this whole nonsense. Now, we're practically back to strangers. Less than that, maybe."

I take a sip from Yukinoshita's god sent tea. As always, it tastes fantastic.

An air of uneasiness descends to the room, while it's unlike the one I felt before on the roof with Sagami, it is still potent enough to make my eyes wander around aimlessly. I do not have to see their expressions to guess the kind of face they're making.

"So... what you're trying to say is that... you made Sagami-chan... hate you?"

Wrong. I made her forget about loving me. But I don't have to disclose that information to anyone here.

"Call it whatever you want. Hate, spite, dislike; whatever." my tea is almost finish. "Like I've said, we're pretty much strangers now."

The silence resumes after the pause that is our conversation. My eyes refuse to look at my club mates' face and I can feel irritation bubbling within my veins already.

"...for all it's worth, Uzumaki-kun, I hope that you do not regret what you've done." Yukinoshita says while placing her own tea cup down. "Yuigahama-san, it's obvious that Uzumaki-kun does not want to disclose anything to us. So, it is only proper for us as his club mates to not pry further."

"O-Oh... sorry..."

No, I'm sorry.

And regret? If only regret is close enough to describe how miserable I am feeling.

"I'm coming in!"

And comes the Hiratsuka Inquisition. She should wear a red cape and robe, but I'll settle for the lab coat she's wearing. With the ever so promising smile on her face, Hiratsuka-sensei enters the room. But that smile of hers falters when she senses the overall mood of the club room.

"Hm? Did I come at a bad time?"

It's Yukinoshita who responds first, shaking her head. "No, we're fine. So, Hiratsuka-sensei, how may we help you?" and just like that, things are back to the way it usually is.

"Alright then..." looks like she's not going to let this go easy. "Anyway, I've come here today with a client. And it's not a potential client, because she's here with a request."

A client? Now?

Footsteps echoing from outside indicates us of a person coming in and, indeed, a person enters our club room.

I can already smell the soft and subtle scent of lilacs invading the lavender scented tea aroma that originally reigns over the club room. I don't know if it's just me, but I can already feel myself sinking into a metaphorical bean bag chair of comfiness.

"Hello~" Ah, no wonder I'm feeling all marsmellow-y inside.

It's Shiromeguri-senpai. Our current Student Council President. One of the nicest looking person I know.

"Shiromeguri-senpai...?" Thank you for stating the obvious, Yukinoshita.

But oh, what's this? A second person who I've never seen before follows soon after Shiromeguri-senpai enters the room.

She does not have the same comfy and mashmellow-y effect as Shiromegur-senpai, but I can just imagine her causing boys' heart to feel like they're glittering with pure moe and all sorts cutesy-cutesy thing. She looks cute, no, she's adorable. But it smells here... something smells. Wide honey brown eyes that seems to have the same tantalizing effect as a kitten look like they're specifically made to capture the hearts of men. Thin but nonetheless effective make up makes her all the more charming and irresistible, especially the lip gloss coating her small and supple lips.

I cannot help but allow my stare to linger for longer than necessary. But thankfully, I manage to grab a hold of myself before anyone finds out what I've been doing.

"Aha, Iroha-chan!" Oh, unsurprisingly, Yui knows this chick.

"Yui-senpai." Her voice is like cute made to life. "Hello~!"

My gaze lingers back to my sleeves, but I can feel her looking at me even for just a moment.

She called Yui senpai earlier... so she's a first year, no wonder I don't know her. I don't mingle with our first years that often, and those I usually mingle with are the guys. But if Shiromeguri is here then this is gonna be one heck of a request, right? It's not every day we get the President to visit the club room, much less make requests.

After a brief minute of explanation from Hiratsuka-sensei, I am found right.

"Student Council President Election?"

Yes, I thought so...

"Yup." This Iroha chick confirms. "Hm," now she's looking at me, probably because I've been staring at her. "You're totally thinking that I don't look the part, aren't you?"

"To be honest, yeah. Oof!"

"Maki!"

Sometimes, I say too much.

Our junior chuckles, whether it's from seeing me getting hit or me being right in guessing, I don't know.

"It's okay Yui-senpai, I get that a lot you knooow~?"

Eugh! No, bad kouhai! Bad! You don't get to 'you knooow~?' my clubmates! Only **I** get to 'you knooow~?' my clubmates!

We've entered the boundless territory of pointless conversation, so Yukinoshita quickly drags us up before we can even venture even further.

"Well, is there any problem?" like the capable club president she is, she returns the conversation on track.

"Isshiki-san here is running for president." Ah, so that's her full name. Isshiki Iroha? Iroha Isshiki? Thank you, Megu-Megu-senpai.

"But, uh, like..."

Hm?

"We'd... rather she didn't win."

Okay, I'm interested now. Speak, woman.

"Er... does that mean you don't want to be student council president?" I cannot blame Yui for asking. This is not something we deal with every day, hence explaining why I'm interested.

"Then why run for candidate?" Thank you for asking, prez.

"Well, the thing is, I didn't volunteer for the post. People nominated me without asking." Huh, what is she, some sort of pop star? "I stand out in a bad way, I guess?"

Uwaaah... I think I'm beginning to know the type of girl this Isshiki chick is like. But, yeah, she seems like she'd be hated by the other girls. This situation can be found in most high schools in the world.

There will always be this one chick who's, like, cute and adorable to the point where some girls hate her and want nothing more than to see her face being ripped apart by an angry boar.

...well not that graphic, but, you get what I mean.

And she's the soccer team manager, a club in which our school super star Hayama is in and gets along well with? Well, gg, it's surprising to see her still smiling like this. I'm sure that she's had some rough treatment by other girls in the past.

"Sounds like a low-key case of bullying to me." I say, while stretching my arms. "Or at least, a very bad prank." From people with very bad intentions.

Yukinoshita nods, agreeing with my statement. "You need at leas thirty nominations to become a candidate. Then what Uzumaki-kun said earlier is correct, this is a very bad prank, seeing as how these people managed to coordinate something like this..."

"Whoa... if this is for purer reasons, then it's pretty amazing to get that much nominations!" Yui's right. But in this case, nothing's pure.

"I'll give the culprits a good talking to, of course." I can already see Hiratsuka-sensei thinking up ways on how to punish those so called culprits.

"If you don't want to become the president, then, why not just pull out from the position?"

"Well..."

"Something wrong?" I ask again.

"Well, nothing, it's just that Isshiki-san's the only candidate right now."

I fear as much.

"That means she'd need a vote of no confidence." Basically, she'll need people voting against her rather than for her.

"But losing like that would be so laaaame~..." girl, please, stop.

I sigh. "By the way, do you know who's giving your campaign speech yet?"

"Eh, no." Wow, does she even prepare at all?

But, it's fine. "That's great. This means you just have to find someone who'll give you a very bad campaign speech, that way, you won't take the burnt of the crash."

Everyone's looking at me with their own respective looks.

"What?" I ask. "That's a solution, right?"

Isshiki chuckles. "Sure... but, who would do that for me?"

"I don't know." I shrug. "You're cute. Why don't you go and pick up some poor sod outside to deliver the speech for you? I'm sure he won't mind taking the shot for you. Cute girls like you get away with everything, after all."

"Uwaaah... that's so horrible, Maki..."

"Uzumaki-kun, out of all the things you've said, that has got to be the worst one yet."

"Uzumaki..." Even Hiratsuka-sensei's disappointed?

Well, at least I tried.

"Muu... Senpai... you're actually pretty scummy, aren't you?" Isshiki huffs, crossing her arms. "I thought you're a decent person."

"There is each one correct and wrong thing in that statement of yours." I say, lifting up my mug. "You're right about me being scum. Glad you learn about that so soon. The wrong thing is: I'm not a decent person. I don't wanna be in between. Either I'm good or bad, your choice."

Yukinoshita sighs at my wolfish grin.

"Please ignore what that oaf just said, Isshiki-san." I can hear the tiredness in her voice. "But we remain at the same tangent here. We cannot do this alone. You will need another person in order to not get selected as president. But the question remains: who?"

Descending upon us is the fog of silence. We have proceeded two steps forward, but only to stumble three steps back. I don't think progress will be made like this, if not at all, today.

To defend our club, this is the first time we've ever dealt with something this complicated. Yes, even Tobe's case was easier than this. And I believe that all of us here in the club won't have enough time to come up with ideas due to our respective schedule.

Especially mine.

"But just to make things clearer, Yukinoshita, what do you think must be done." Hiratsuka-sensei inquires of our club president. But there's something telling me that she's doing something more than just asking for Yukinoshita's opinion.

"I think that Isshiki-san should just proceed with whatever she's doing." Her answer causes Isshiki, Shiromeguri, Yui and even sensei to raise their eyebrows. "The lack of candidates confirms it: nobody cares about the student council."

Whoa there, no need to be so blunt.

"But Isshiki-san being the only candidate still brings about trouble. If there's to be another, even though it's just one person, candidate, then withholding the vote tallies and announcing a rigged result would be just as good if not better than Uzumaki-kun's plan."

Ugh, there it is her, her competitive nature is surfacing.

But I like the way she's thinking. Rigging the election? Man, the thought crossed my head at one point of my life, but I realized that it doesn't take a rigged election for even first world countries in this green earth to fuck themselves up internally.

"So, what you're saying is, we have no other choice but to back a different candidate and have them win?" I ask.

"Yes, that is indeed true, Uzumaki-kun."

"Well, good luck finding one." I say. "It's not like student council president candidates are just gonna barge in through that door or anything."

Wait!

…

…

Oh, no one's barging in. Damn. I thought I can manipulate Murphy's Law somehow, but nooo~.

"...indeed, no potential candidates will just barge into that door over there." Oh don't give me that look. "So, Hiratsuka-sensei, I propose that we conduct another meeting later when we're able to think of more things regarding Isshiki-san's request."

"Alright." Hiratsuka-sensei says, smiling a little bit. "It's not something that can be solved in just one meeting, after all. Isshiki, you know where to find your senpai's now. Shiromeguri and I probably won't be able to join in on later meetings because of our respective duties. So, please the three of you, take care of Isshiki."

I raise my hand. "I get Shiromeguri-senpai not joining us because of her duties, but what about you?"

My homeroom teacher looks at me with a confused expression. "What do you mean?"

"Last time I check, physically abusing students isn-OH SHIT!"

"C'MERE UZUMAKI!"

Gotta go fast!

* * *

"Whew, thank God I manage to escape school... I swear, that woman's not normal." She's just very, very scary when mad. At least that's what I always convince myself. Who knows, maybe Hiratsuka-sensei's an Amazonian Princess or something?

She certainly has the looks...

I'm beat. It was after school anyway, so Yukinoshita and the rest won't mind me leaving early. Besides, if things happen, Yui will text me A.S.A.P, I'm sure of it. Hm... let's see, let's see... now that I'm alone after school, what should I do...

Chiba is always filled with people. And I can definitely see why. At this time of the day, students are going back home and office workers too, with the exception of Tanaka-san.

"There's that nice doughnut place around here if I'm not mistaken..."

And I was not mistaken. There it is right there, on the corner of the street near a boutique. Some hot chocolate, the bitter one with a hundred percent pure cocoa content, won't hurt me. Oh and some honey glazed doughnut too.

Hey, if I'm gonna get diabetes, I might as well get it from the genuine source of sweetness.

Entering the establishment, I waste no time ordering myself the orders I have in mind. A mug of hot cocoa and a plate with three honey glazed doughnut. Looks like I'll be having instant noodles for dinner tonight.

"Thank you for your purchase!"

You're welcome, coffee barista Onee-san!

"Oho, Uzumaki-kun!"

Oh no, it's the other Onee-san!

My good mood crumbles to a minimal the moment I see her sitting on one of the chairs in the establishment. Judging from the half-eaten almond cream doughnut on her plate and the large cold cup of hazelnut frappe on her table, it's safe to say that she's been here longer than me. Carrying my tray of food, I ignore her even as she waves her hand towards me.

But I know that it won't stop her from coming to where I'm gonna be sitting.

And yeah, I was right.

"Now, now, why so cold, Uzumaki-kun? Say Hi to Onee-san, will you?" the college Onee-san who is now sitting beside me giggles. Do I look funny to you?

"Fancy seeing you here, Haruno-san." I should at least greet her, yeah. "You come here often?" and now I'm starting up conversation. Great.

"I do, strangely. Ufufufu." 'Strangely?' "This place has a nice assortment of treats and the drinks aren't too expensive when compared to other brands."

Oh, since when has money been an issue for a Yukinoshita, huh?

"Ne, ne, Uzumaki-kun... tell me something interesting."

I am just about to bite into my doughnut, but her talking stops me immediately. I pause, giving her a look before finally munching into my treat. Taking my time to chew, I then swallow.

"Something interesting."

Her face shows confusion, this lasts for approximately five to ten seconds. And then, she erupts into a chorus of laughter.

"O-Oh my God... you... you really... ahahahaha...!" woman, you're disturbing my peace. Hell, you're disturbing everyone's peace! This is a place to enjoy drinks, not a fun house.

Haruno-san wipes a tear from the corner of her left eye, still in the aftermath of laughing. "You really... ahaha... really are interesting aren't you, Uzumaki-kun?"

I shrug, while sipping my drink from my mug. "I try not to be interesting. But some people find me interesting anyway, so, nothing I can do about that."

The older Yukinoshita sighs out loudly, it comes to a point where she's being obnoxious by stretching her limbs sideways, touching my cheeks in purpose.

"You know, Uzumaki-kun, you could at least look happier when talking to me." Ow, woman, stop pinching my cheek. "It's not every day that a I talk to a guy, you know?"

"That statement is impossible." I glare at her, causing her to stop messing with my cheek. But it won't stop her completely, I'm sure of it. "Don't you talk to your professors or lecturers on campus who are male? What about your driver? Your father?"

"Hahaha, I suppose you're right." Yes, I am indeed right. Because as soon as she says that, she's back to messing with my cheek again. "But what's the matter with you, you look twice grumpier today."

"Oi, that's rude." But she's not wrong. "Just... a bad day, that's all."

Though a 'bad day' is just putting it lightly.

"Oh, care to share?"

"No."

"Aww, c'mon, it's not every day that I get to hear you share about your thoughts and feelings, you know?" she's right.

"It's not every day that I get to stumble upon you in a doughnut place either." But I'm _more_ right.

"C'mon, share with Onee-san?" normally, her persuasiveness would've worked with normal men. But since this is me she's dealing with, it doesn't work.

Knowing Haruno-san, she's just going to bug me about this non-stop until I finish my food and leave, and seeing the spot I'm now, I'd rather have a peaceful conversation than a one sided and annoying one with her persisting me.

I sigh, causing her to lean on with interest.

"Have you ever had someone confess that they love you, Haruno-san?"

She gives me a flat stare.

"Right, stupid question, so let me rephrase that." I cough to my fist. "When someone confesses their love to you, what's the first thing you do?"

"Well I laugh, of course."

Wow, harsh.

"I... see." but I should've expect that. "And then, you reject them, right?"

"Naturally." Haruno-san shrugs.

Whoa. "Do you feel guilty rejecting them?"

This time, she's putting effort into thinking of answer instead of just answering me instantly. "Hm... I'm not sure if guilty is a word I'd use, but, let's just say that there were good ones among the basket."

Then, yes, she have felt guilt before for rejecting.

"Then... well, do you still talk to those... people whom you rejected?"

Haruno-san sighs, smiling. "Most of them? No. And I'm sure that they don't want to see my face ever again." then, her smiles turn sly. "Don't tell me, a girl confessed to you?"

I see no reason to lie here. "At Kyoto, during the trip, yup."

"Oh my, how romantic?" is that sincerity I sense in her voice? "So, you rejected her?"

"...obviously."

"Hm, hm." she sighs again, this time in distinct relief. "I'm glad. That way, you can end up with Yukino-chan."

I stare at her with the flatest stare I can muster. "You're still going on with this whole shipping thing, huh?"

I hear her chuckle, but it's not the usual sly or ill intended one. "What can I say? The two of you complete each other so well." she straightens her back, getting into a more proper position. "Yukino-chan is a hard girl to deal with, but so are other girls, including me."

Wink, wink.

Ugh.

"But when it comes to Yukino-chan, she'd rather you be your true self... regardless of how cliché and cheesy that might sound. She doesn't want you to act politely to her, she doesn't want you to bring her flowers whenever you go on dates and she most definitely doesn't need you to be someone in the first place."

I can see where this conversation is going.

"It's that kind of standard that makes us, my parents and me, worry about Yukino-chan. In the kind of world we live in, Uzumaki-kun, everything matters." tell me something I don't know. "But, I find Yukino-chan's... complexity to be... cute."

Cute? That's the best you can come up with?

"Sounds like it's all backwards to me." I say, after swallowing a moutful of warm cocoa. "Yukinoshita seems to be leading a simple life." Of course, she has her own shit to deal with. "If that is all she wants."

"And that is exactly why you should totally end up with Yukino-chan." Haruno-san smiles at me with a pointed finger. "Only you can deal with her complexity effectively and properly." I hear her giggle again. "It's hard for someone to want simple things when they come from a complicated background. It's funny how the world works."

But in the end, no one's laughing.

"You know, ever since that summer festival, I've completely surrendered Yukino-chan into your capable hands." the older Yukinoshita hums casually.

In turn, it nearly causes me to spit out the liquid chocolate I'm currently drinking. "What?" What?

"Ufufufu." stop it with your giggling, woman, tell me what do you mean by that? "You're adorable, Uzumaki-kun." She makes a thinking pose. "So is Yukino-chan. So, if the two of you are together, you'd make the most adorable couple ever!"

"No, no, we'd insult each other to the point where we'll break up before we can even share our first kiss."

"Aww, you're already thinking about your first kiss together."

"Listen to me here, woman." _Son_... I mean, she's a girl, but, _son_...

As if things cannot get any worse, my ears capture a voice that I immediately recognize. To my defense, it's almost impossible for me to ignore this voice with how loud and confident it is, well, shouted.

"Naruru!"

A streak of light blue and brown crashes into me, don't ask me how she manages to crash into me while I'm sitting down, but it happens. I grunt as the impact hits me head on, but at least it's not a limousine this time. I can smell the familiar and childish scent of lemon scented perfume that she still likes even in this age, I can feel a pair of smaller arms wrap around me, around my neck.

And I am not kidding when I say that she somehow manages to crash into me while I'm sitting. We make for a source of people's undivided attention, with how awkward and suggestively positioned we are. It's as if she's completely abandoned her two functional feet and decided to make me some sort of life sized teddy bear. She's literally clinging on to be now.

After breathing in, whatever it is she's breathing in, this person finally retracts her head back to look at my face.

"Whoa, dude, you're like, covered in honey." Gee, thank you for pointing that out, captain obvious. And it's only my mouth.

She lets go, returning to her feet. "Hold on, let me grab a towel."

"No, wait, Ori-"

"Ssssh!" she ssssh'd me!

I do not have time to object her because I have a towel shoved on my face, literally. Her hand begins to work, dabbing whatever mess I've made on my face from the doughnuts I've ate.

"There, all better." she grins wide enough to show me her pearly whites. "Now you don't look like a street cat!"

Again with the cat comment?!

It is at this point when Ori-... Kaori finally realizes that I am not here alone. Her eyes go wide. "Oh crap, are you here on a date? Oh man, geez, sorry I didn't know that you're..."

All this time, Haruno-san has been silent. No, silent's the wrong word to use here. It's as if she's been frozen this whole time. It's only from Kaori's apology that she finally talks.

"Oh, no, don't apologize. Uzumaki-kun and I aren't dating... unfortunately, ufufufu~" what do you mean 'unfortunately', huh?

I continue wiping my mouth using the towel Kaori used on me earlier, but suddenly, she's screaming in outrage right at the side of my ear. "What the heck, Naruru, you're not dating her? Why not?"

"What do you mean why not?" I ask with a deadpan expression.

"She's, like, totally a babe!" Kaori points the fact out as if it's the most obvious thing in the whole wide world.

Don't look flattered Haruno-san!

I am about to retort back, but I am reminded of where we are. People are staring and the clerks are giving us looks as if they're about to ban our respective asses from the cafe forever. Before things can excelate due to Kaori's... enthusiasm, I sigh,

"Look, Kaori, let's just sit down. And..." it seems that I have also failed to notice that Kaori's not here alone. "...eh, you are?"

"Oh!" of course, it has to be Kaori who introduces her friend to us. "This is Chika and she's we're here to hang out until I met you." she nudges her friend. "Say hello, Chika."

"Moou... Kaori... I can introduce myself you know..." it seems that this chick has been through a lot. _Chick_ a. Get it?

"Sorry, sorry, hahaha!"

"Oho, what an interesting friend you have here, Uzumaki-kun." Haruno-san has finally decided to join our conversation. "Is she someone I should know about?"

I pull a vacant chair out from the table on the empty spot beside me, allowing Kaori to sit down. She pulls the other empty chair beside her so that her friend can sit down. It is a simple cycle.

"Oh, I'm his ex." Kaori says without even batting an eye.

Aaaand there we go folks, that's it for tonight! Hope you enjoyed the show and have a safe trip back home!

…

No, sadly, this won't end just like that.

"Oh my... oh my, _oh my..._ " I don't like the growing smirk on Haruno-san's face. "Isn't this one interesting fact I've learned, U-zu-ma-ki- _kun_?" Eew, don't talk like that, woman.

"Say, say, Naruto." Without any warning, Kaori pulls on my arm, causing me to lean towards her. "Do you know a person by the name of Hayama Hayato-kun?"

"Oho?" now it's my turn to shine. "What, interested in him?"

"Pssh, no way!"

It's sad that I can't get back at her for embarrassing me in public, but at the same time, it's so damn funny how easily she dismisses Hayama like that!

"It's just that-" Kaori gestures to her friend, who squeaks at the attention. "-Chika over here fancies the guy. And being the good friend I am, I'm supporting her decision."

I sigh, giving Chika-san an apologetic look. "Sorry, I do know guy, but we don't get along well enough for me to pull off something like that."

"I-It's okay... Uzumaki-san..."

Oh. "Kaori talks about me?"

I can see a vengeful smile creeping up on Chika-san's face. "Oh, she talks about you, a lot. In fac-mmmmphh!"

Kaori, who has her hands completely covering the entirety of her friend's mouth, looks flustered. "T-That's enough Chika, otherwise I won't treat you tonight!"

Watching the scene, I cannot help but smile. It's good to know that Kaori has normal friends. Imagine her meeting people like her. Oh God, that'd be like meeting another me.

"Oh, if it's Hayato-kun, I can call him right now?"

We all stare at Yukinoshita's older sister, who's smiling while holding her phone. Without any say from our part, she dials a number and begins talking when the line is connected.

"Ah, Hayato, where are you now? Can you come here, like, right now? We're at that donut place with the weird looking logo? Can you come here right now, thank you~"

Suddenly, I feel very sorry for Hayama.

...no, I take it back, fuck that prick.

* * *

Holy hell, I can't believe it, he really did come!

I can't believe that Haruno-san has Hayama wrapped around her finger like this. I mean I know he's whipped, but, man to see it in front of my face like this... this is one of those small victories in life that I enjoy.

After arriving here, he's introduced to Kaori and her friends. I can really see from the way they're talking that Chika is really interested in Hayama. But naturally, since Kaori's here, she ended up being the one who did most of the talking. But it's okay, they looked like they enjoyed talking.

And now, Kaori and her friend are about to leave.

"Bye, bye Hayama-kun! And you too Naruru!" then she makes the face of a middle schooler who's forgot to bring his ruler to a geometry test. "Ah, I forgot," even if she's already close to the entrance, Kaori runs back.

"Say, you free this week?"

I raise an eyebrow. "Why?"

"Ramen, duh! Ramen! It's been a long time ever since I've eaten your ramen!" she's dragging out the words to the point where it sounds like she's groaning.

"Sorry, I'm busy this weekend." I apologize lamely. I mean what can I say? Those stories ain't gonna write themselves, you knooow~?

"Then next week?"

"Nope, still busy."

"Next, next, week?"

I pause, thinking. "Sunday."

"Great!" she does a fist pump, squealing. "See you next, next week, Naruru~!" she returns to her friend's side, but not before waving back at me. "Bye, bye~!"

I return her wave, even from here, I can hear her cheering 'ramen!'. Haaah...

What have I created?

"So... that was... interesting."

Oh shut up, Hayama. I take a small steady sip from my freshly made mug of hot cocoa.

"I know, right?!" Haruno-san, you're too loud. "That girl with the perm is actually Uzumaki-kun's ex-girlfriend! My, my, I wonder what will Yukino-chan think about this!"

"Heeeh..." Why do you sound and look surprised, Hayama? The dick has the guts to look at me with that plastic smile of his. "Can't say you ever struck me as that kind of guy."

I snort at his tasteless jab. "At least I know when to say no, Hayama."

I swear, even Haruno-san winced at that remark.

"...is that why it happened the way it did with Sagami?" he's just dragging this conversation in all sorts of direction isn't he?

"I took care of Sagami." wait, that come out wrong.

"...I see. I noticed that." so he did. It might seem strange for someone who's confessed her love to suddenly act cold and distant to the person she confessed her love to. He sighs. "Well, let's just leave it at that then."

"Hn."

"Wait, wait, what are you two boys talking about? Onee-san wants to know~!"

I smirk. And Hayama shares the same smirk.

We allow this as a victory for all the boys in the world.

"Hmph, fine, if that's how is it going to be then Onee-san's leaving." Don't give us that fake pout like that, it's unsightly. But I'm sure that Yukinoshita would've been grossed out even more if she sees her sister like this. "Bye, bye Uzumaki-kun. Thank you for spending time with me."

Don't speak so close to my ear woman, they're sensitive.

Then, she waltzes out of the cafe like a shooting star, garnering the eyes of lesser men as she goes.

It's just me and this dude over here, whom I'm sharing a table with. After a moment of silent pause, he speaks, "Looks like Haruno likes you."

"...I can only feel misery and bad luck from that fact." with a final gulp, I've finished my drink.

"Heh." Hayama shakes his head. "There's no in between with Haruno. She smothers the people she likes and tears down the people she hates."

Honestly speaking, I'd rather have the latter. That way, I'll have a legitimate reason to avoid her.

Looking at the time, it's already quite late. I should have noticed this, honestly, because it's already dark outside. Picking up my bag, I prepare myself to leave.

"That's scary as hell, dude."

Dropping the mic, I make my way home.

* * *

This early morning, I can feel myself returning to the usual feeling of tranquility and serene solitude that has become my company whenever I arrive at school. Of course, it's still impossible for me to ignore the multitude of people around me, but I have no problem tuning them out a little bit.

Today lacks that sinking feeling that yesterday has, and I can already tell that it's a good thing.

Thankfully, the situation with Sagami was witnessed by people I'm close with. Well, not in that sense, but you get what I mean. There are no rumors or anything circulating about. So, I'm safe. When I reach class, everything should be back to normal.

"Oh, Maki!"

"Yui?"

My pink haired classmate smiles as she approaches me, her orange back pack hanging loosely on her back. "Morning."

How polite. "Morning to you too." I return her greeting.

"Hehehe..."

Are you that happy?

"Say, say, Maki, have you think of ways about solving the request?"

We discuss club related topic as we walk through the halls. "To be honest, I can't see any way of solving it unless we find someone who's willing to be student council president in Isshiki's stead."

"Yeah..." Yui groans. "This is so hard... what's with the hard requests we've been receiving? First was Tobecchi's and-oh... um..."

Yuigahama Yui is a nice girl, after all.

"It's okay, I'm not bothered by that." I tell her. "As long as you don't spread the fact that Sagami confessed to me, I'll be fine." and don't tell Sagami herself, please? Otherwise I'll have to pull more shit.

"Okay..." murmurs the pink haired girl. "But what about Sagami-chan herself? She looks like she barely even know you now... much less lo-love you..."

"Maybe it wasn't real in the first place?"

"Even after all of the things she's said...?"

"Yui." I muster the toughest voice I can muster. "People change. Sometimes, it's hard. And sometimes, it's so easy to the point it's seemingly instant."

"But... doesn't that seem forced?"

My jaws feel slacked for some reason. "...regardless of what it is, people change, no changing that fact."

"..."

Club starts and we're helping Isshiki with her dilemma. It's not easy figuring out ways to help our cute little kouhai, but as the reliable senpais we are, we need to do our best.

Yukinoshita persists with her plan of backing another candidate in order to make Isshiki lose vote. Thankfully, she did her work and managed to find several potential candidates. But you know the things with this kind of solution: it won't guarantee anything. There's no telling whether the potential candidates are willing to nominate themselves or willing to take the job in the first place.

But I suppose that's just people being wise. They don't want to be the head that bears the heavy weight of the crown. They already have their own weight to pull, what good will adding more to the pile do?

Humans are selfish creature, yes. Isshiki is selfish for not wanting to be president, Yukinoshita is selfish because she'd rather have other take the blame, and I guess I am selfish too for not wanting to feel hurt.

Haaah...

Just another day in my life.

* * *

 **So much happened at the beginning, but remember, with a new season, comes new problem. I am very pleased to see that the majority of you do not mind me deviating from canon, it makes this story easier to write for me and as long as you guys enjoy the content I make, that's enough to make me sleep at night.**

 **But, really, I think I should address some problems that this story have.**

 **Proof that I'm still in dire need of practice:**

 **Romance: Yes, I promised that there will be romance. Heck, I think I've written a good few of those in the previous chapters! What is romance anyway? Is it when a definite pairing interacts by showing affection towards each other? So if they are not mutually in love, then it is not romance? I think not.**

 **This story is slow. But I can confidently say that progress has been made, albeit slowly. Right now, romance is there, but it has not taken form because after each interaction with the different characters in the story, the shape of romance changes according to the flow.**

 **Let's say I have a scene with Naruto and Yukino talking together in the club room, joking and exchanging their usual banter. Does that suffice as romance? Probably to some of you. But is it clear that he'll end up with Yukinoshita? Certainly not.**

 **So, what I'm saying is, the romance is there, but only in spirit.**

 **Naruto's status: He's an immortal. Yes, it's in the title. He's also a kick ass ninja. So, why is he fucking weak? Well, originally, I never intended for him to be immortal. Just a ninja who somehow magically got transported into modern day Japan through Kishimoto magic. But, I realize that I am not skilled enough to develop a character from that base alone. I need something as a foundation for character, so I came up with immortality. Yes, even though nothing has been shown that proves Naruto's immortality, I'll admit that flaw on my part.**

 **Perhaps it's my fault for not being able to portray a good character to the audience, or perhaps it's just my awful planning that results in a very malleable and sloppy characterization. Regardless, the character that I have shown through Naruto is there.**

 **And as for the second part, won't it seem strange for someone as powerful as Naruto to not want to nerf down his power levels? This is a different day and age he's in. He can't just curb stomp people seven ways to Sunday, although that'll be very cool to see.**

 **Chakra: Continuing, this is probably where my disregard for the Naruto canon-verse is highly emphasized. Okay, I'll admit, I bullshit my way through this, happy? But if it make things clear, I'll say it here:**

 **I'm trying to create this kind of... paradox(?) where Naruto can no longer produce chakra both internally or even gather nature energy externally. However, he still has his existing reserves on him. Combined with Kurama's chakra, of course. This is what I've been aiming for all this time and people actually give me shit for this, which is fine. This creates what I believe is a paradox where it is understood that ninjas need chakra to live, but for Naruto – who is an immortal – he can no longer produce chakra, so where does that leave him?**

 **That is pretty much the whole image I've been trying to project in my story. But seeing as how I have explain things here, it does indeed says a lot about my skills in writing.**

 **Q.E.D**

 **But in all seriousness, thank you guys for sticking with me up till now. Have a good day or night wherever you guys are.**


	21. Before, now and maybe then

**Last chapter's review section was so nice to read.**

 **You can basically smell the salt in some people?**

 **But in all seriousness, it surprises me to see that my attempt of putting a character into a minor one like Sagami is highly noted to the point where you people are disappointed. It's a good thing, it shows that you guys appreciate what I've put into my writing.**

 **But, hey, this story is ongoing. Who knows what will happen?**

 **( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)**

* * *

Ah... I love the smell of misery in the early morning.

I'll stop playing Bill Clinton and come out clean: I didn't sleep well enough last night.

So many things happened yesterday, so many that it felt like weeks instead of just one single day. Now at the morning, and as if I wasn't miserable enough yesterday, I feel like I'm the byproduct of a social reject's misery and and a moody teenager's melancholy put together and combined into one huge pile.

My best and only attempt to lessen my current status ailment is to rely on the ever so reliable potion that all depressed people know and love. Booze. Or beer, but this is no ordinary beer I'm drinking, well, I guess it's ordinary only if you're Irish.

After emptying my bottle of Murphy's Irish Red, I cast it aside next to my toaster. I'll have a clone clean things up here later in the kitchen anyway. Walking out of the kitchen, I open my veranda to let some fresh air in. The cold air hits my skin, but I'm so dead inside that I don't even shiver. I wasn't lying when I said that it's early morning. The sky is still dark outside.

And today, I'm not in the right mood to do my morning routine. And it's not like anything will happen if I skip today. Sadly, I can't skip school as well. I mean I can, but Hiratsuka-sensei will pester me nonstop, hell, she'll probably even come here herself. Yeah, that's definite. I managed to get some work done last night so I'm not that stressed to the point where I'll start drinking, besides, one bottle should be enough to 'clear' my head.

In this time of the day, the city is still quite. There are transport services already up and running, like trains and buses, but this is to be expected.

Morning is barely in sight, but I already feel like going back to sleep again, though I know that's not happening. I hope that the request with Isshiki will at least take my mind off things... if not make me completely forget them.

"Yo."

...now I feel sick.

I expect to be greeted by Yui as soon as I enter the classroom, but of all people, it's Hayama. The guy's standing behind me with his trademarked smile on his face, dressed all proper with his his ribbon tie tied around his collar.

"What's the matter?" I ask.

"I want to figure out what time we're going on Saturday."

"Saturday? What am I gonna do with you on Saturday?"

Hayama looks like a very confused badger whose food was just stolen by another of its kind. "Oh, you didn't know?" take a guess, dumbass. "Orimoto-san texted me and we ended up making plans to hang out. I assumed you know this."

Look, dude, just because I used to be in a relationship, doesn't mean that I know full well what's going on in that brain of hers. But in this case, that airhead probably got too excited to the point where she forgot to tell me.

"That girl..." I sigh, wincing as I feel a slight headache like pain coursing through my skull. "She probably got too excited and forgot to tell me. That's always the case back then."

Now why are you laughing?

"Anyway, so, you're coming?" you're asking me but you're making the face of someone who leaves no room for objections.

We have a class on Saturday, just this week, so morning time is a huge no-no. But class will end before noon, so, it's technically morning. I can still work on my book later in the afternoon and until night. Hm, now my reason for not cooking ramen for Kaori is becoming weaker.

Looking at Hayama, however, I can't help but feel a little sorry.

He really looks like he doesn't even want to go in the first place, but being the person he is; he can't say no. But, no, I don't feel like going. I'll be selfish.

"Sorry, but I don't feel like going anywhere on the weekend." Sorry not sorry pal.

The grim look on pretty boy's face doubles in intensity. What he does next causes me to raise an eyebrow. Hayama bows his head slightly, an action that looks strange when done by him. Perhaps it's due to the fact that he's always projecting this perfect guy image.

"Please. Consider this a request from me." he says, much to my disdain.

"...low blow..." muttering that under my breath, I then shake my head. "I'll consider it as a favor, one that you'll owe back to me in the future." my tone leaves no room for argument, but I doubt that Hayama's looking to argue in the first place.

His face morphs back to show that cheap smile of his. "Thank you, Uzuki-kun."

At least get my name right, asshole.

* * *

I enjoy tea. Have I ever said that before? But to be more precise, I enjoy the tea that our club president makes for us whenever club starts.

Inside the Service Club's headquarter, the three of us are seated together on the same table that we've been using ever since the day we all got dragged into this strange trio relationship. As always, Yui occupies the middle of the table, symbolizing a bridge between me and Yukinoshita. Like Yukinoshita, I sit at the other end of the table – right side – near the door, while she herself occupies the left side, near the windows.

I can go on for hours describing and telling whatever this seating arrangement symbolizes, but if I am to go with plain facts, it's because this arrangement also provides us with the space and environment we need to conduct our activity.

Yui sits in the middle, having more space on the table, so that she can complete any unfinished school works given to her by the teachers. Yukinoshita sits near the windows because she needs the sunlight in order to read her books. And, finally, I sit near the door because out of all of us, I drink the most tea, thus making me use the toilet often, hence why I need faster access to the exit.

And if shit hits the fan, I have better chances of saving my ass.

"Will Isshiki visit us again today?" without taking my eyes off my laptop's screen, I voice my question out loud.

As always, my answer is given in its usual concise and polite manner. "She will not be able to come today due to soccer practice that she needs to tend to." I hear the sound of paper being flipped open.

"Uuu... find the mean and standard deviation... wha...?"

Ignoring the last dialogue, every conversation between the three of us are always kept as short and informative as possible. This way, we won't get to hear Yui yap about every single detail that Sable did at home, from the way he ate and the type of dog shampoo used to clean him.

And this way, we keep things nice and tranquil.

But it's not like Yukinoshita's – or me for that matter – against conversation. No. We like to talk. It's just that, we make sure that the things we talk about have an end point and not just some unending discussion that will lead to further needless debate. Which is why we avoid discussing things like politics and the advantages between having a dog or cat as a household pet.

Especially that last one, you do not want to make Yui yap more and more about the 'bestest things about having a dog' again.

On the occasion if we do not have any clients to entertain, which is the case most of the times, we always end up doing things like reviewing school work – something that Yukinoshita suggested after seeing Yui's mid semester report – or play, believe it or not, board games that Yui brings with her from home. It's a good thing to do, but let's all hope that Yui will never bring a game like Monopoly to the Service Club. I don't want our hardassed club leader to become more dictator-like.

"You guys mind if I play some music?"

"Ah, it's fine, Maki. Say, play something nice and relaxing will you?"

"Hm, a classical music will be appropriate, Uzumaki-kun."

Classical, eh?

Searching through the files in my laptop's storage device. The D drive to be more specific. After several seconds of searching, I think I've found a good classical music.

I press play.

 **MASTER OF PUPPETS I'M PULLING YOUR STRI-!**

"Whoops."

Teehee, sorry, sorry, I forgot to refresh my earlier playlist.

"...that shocked me..."

"Your taste in music is comparable to fecal matter, Uzumaki-kun."

Whoa there, Yukinoshita, you just offended a lot of people. As a member of the club and her subordinate, I would like to apologize for her words.

But, please, feel free to voice your complaints.

After that slight... technical difficulty, I search my music folder for some more appropriate music.

"Let's play a game." I say suddenly, earning the attention of my two club mates. "I'll play a song and if you sing along, clap your hands, tap your feet or anything like that; you'll lose. How's that?"

Yui continuously pokes the dull end of the pencil at the edge of her lip. "Hmm... that should be easy... I'm doing homework after all." then, she shakes her head, smiling, accepting my challenge. "Alright!" she turns to our club president next. "What do you say, Yukinon?"

As I have expected, Yukinoshita nods as well. "Very well." she gives me a look that says 'I shall squash this petty competition like always' before directing a confident and rare smirk. "If I win, assume that there will be a prize?"

If 'I' win, Yukinoshita? "Aren't you confident?"

"Naturally."

"Me too, Maki!"

"Sure. Hm..." lemme think. "Aha, winner will get to eat my homemade ramen."

"Urk."

At the mention of 'ramen', both Yui's and Yukinoshita's face turns grey, blue, green and back to their original complexion. It seems that ramen is something high school girls cannot get along very well with.

Wait, scratch that, not all high school girls.

"I-Is something like... a... bento okay?" I have to give Yui my full attention so that I can hear what she's said. "S-See...! A bento is easier and cheaper and lighter to make, s-so... it'll be easier for the loser."

To follow up the already uncommon sight of Yui suggesting something sensible, Yukinoshita nods her head in agreement. Now if I know her as well as I think I know her, she seems to be nodding in a faster manner than usual.

"What Yuigahama-san has said is true, Uzumaki-kun. A simple bento lunch is much more practical and cost friendly. Though I firmly believe that everyone here is capable of managing their funds well, a simple bento meal will not cause anyone major setbacks."

If I am to simplify what she has said it'll be something like this:

Just say yes and make a bento already.

Yup, that's how I read it.

Sighing, I raise one of my hand, while the other is busy tracking my mouse to the music file of my choosing. "Okay, fine, just a bento will do." I pause. "But if Yui loose, we will supervise her cooking."

"Hey! What do you mean!"

"That goes without saying, Uzumaki-kun." Yukinoshita says, adding more salt to the wound. "In fact, let us do everything we can to make sure that Yuigahama-san wouldn't lose."

"Yukinon!"

I laugh. "Alright, alright, let's see..." I grin. "Let's see if you guys can handle this." I double click the mp3 file.

The beat kicks off immediately, causing the table to vibrate from the sound. My grin widens when I see the already faltering expression on both Yui's and Yukinoshita's faces.

"Oh no..." Yui groans. "You're bringing out the big guns already?"

Yukinoshita remains untouched, but one can see the slight quivering of her arms. "Hmph, you truly show no remorse, don't you, Uzumaki-kun."

Hey, let me say this:

Daft Punk + Pharell = impossible lunatic mode on crack.

The guitar riffs follows afterwards, making the temptation to tap one's foot on the floor even more unbearable. If we're talking about resistance, it seems that Yukinoshita is capable of holding back her groove better than Yui. Yui, however, she looks like a ADHD patient who's just lost her fidget spinner.

"Lose yourself to dance Yui~"

"Shut up! You devil, don't tempt me!"

"..." I can see you shivering, Yukinoshita.

Pharell's smooth and mellow vocal coupled with the overall jam and rhythmic beat that Daft Punk's rocking is making things even more unbearable. Even I'm having a hard time trying not to sway my head or snap my fingers.

This lasts through half of the song, but with each auto-tuned vocal being sung by the two sole member of the DJ duo, the desire to lose oneself to dance is getting even more unbearable for the three of us. Yui, out of all of us, looks like she's going to break first.

Forget doing homework or reading books. The both of them have put all of their efforts on trying not to lose themselves to dance. Me, I'm having one heck of a time seeing them on the edge. But, amazingly, the two of them – and me too, I guess – manage to hold out until the end.

"Wheeeew... that was waaaay harder than I expected!" Yui breathes out in relief, planting a palm on her chest. "But none of us lost, right?"

I chuckle. "Yeah, but you're the closest out of all of us, Yui." then, my expression becomes grim. "That's not good."

"Moou!"

"Another one, Uzumaki-kun?" the Ice Queen, who's recovered from the state she was in before, looks like she's up for another challenge.

I grin. "Alright, this time, you're gonna have to try harder than before."

My arrow cursor hovers over my music of choice.

Let's see these whippersnapper handle some good ol' fashioned R&B.

The reaction is immediate.

"Oooooh no... Oh no... Maki...!"

"Hm... looks like I have to take back my earlier statement, Uzumaki-kun. You do have good taste in music."

Three elements, and 9th month of the year.

Props to you if you know.

"No, honestly, it's more surprising for me to know that you two actually know these songs." I have to be honest here. I never thought that Yui and Yukinoshita would know these songs.

As we listen to the music, we engage in a discussion.

"Ah, you see, my dad is, like, a huge music nut." Yui says with cheer in her voice. "He has all kinds of old foreign music stored up in our house. Elvis, Michael Jackson, The Beetles and even Frank Sinatra's full records!" she reveals. "He'd have me listen to them when I was younger and I still do, now."

"As for me, one of my relatives collects music records. Of course, they also have cassettes and CDs with them. They used to send my family CDs and cassettes when we were younger to listen and I have to admit, some of the music I've heard are quite catchy."

Listening to their reasons almost makes me, as an old timer, feel glad that today's generation are still knowledgeable about stuffs like this. It's easy to complain about things like this when you're as old as I am, but it's not like I can do anything.

"Ah, but, you see-" I point a finger at their direction, just as the song reaches its chrous. "-it seems that we've all lost the challenge."

Yes. Throughout this whole time, the three of us have been tapping our foot, swaying our neck and even tapping the table as we listen to the music. Noticing this, both girls giggle.

"So, no winner then?" Yui asks.

"Hm, let's just make the bento anyway." I say, giving my suggestion.

"That is fine with me." Our club president reveals. "So, who will be making the bento?"

"Not Yui, that's for sure."

"Mooou!"

"That goes without saying, Uzumaki-kun."

"You two~!"

In the end, we decide that it'd be me who'll cook for the three of us.

Wait, how did that happen?

* * *

"Ah, you're here after all."

As a Japanese high school student, I am obligated to wear my uniform for almost a quarter of my life. But it just feels weird knowing that I'm meeting up with Hayama directly after Saturday classes are over. Since it's Saturday, there was no club. Everyone left early to enjoy the rest of their weekday and, well, not me at the moment.

"I had to scold that airhead for forgetting, I swear, she's such a kid..."

"I take it that you're referring to Orimoto-san?"

Well, duh. "Of course. Why are you asking?"

I don't like the way his gaze lingers at me before eventually looking away. "Nothing." somehow, him gazing away results in him spotting the two additional members of our little outing. "Oh, there they are."

I let Hayama catch the girls' attention, it seems like it's the only appropriate thing to do. Meanwhile, I have my gaze transfixed on the clock display on my phone. Right now, I should be immersed in writing my next book, but here I am, about to spend time with these three people. Oh well, I guess I'll just have to work later.

"Narururu! Sooooo sorry for not telling you that we're meeting up today!" First thing first, she's apologizing to me for her blunder. It's so Kaori-like of her. "But, hey, I'll treat you lunch later, we cool?"

I sigh. "We cool." I say in a flat voice. "Just not... sweet things, okay?"

"But hot chocolate are sweet?"

"Those are not made from pure one hundred percent cocoa then."

"Tche... you're such a snob when it comes to food, Naruru..."

"I don't want to be told that by the girl who out-ate me when she's really hungry."

"W-What do you mean by that, huh?"

Do I have to spell it out to you? "Girl, you fa-mmmph!"

"Okay, Uzuki-kun, I think we should get going now?"

Hayama, dude, not cool! Pushing off the guy's hand from my mouth, I send him a look that can make Madara proud. But slowly, my glare lessens, I sigh. "Sure, where do you want to go?" I ask the two girls.

We begin our walk. Hayama's on the far left side with Kaori's friend on his right, followed by Kaori and then me on the far right side. The city is already bustling with activity since it's a weekend and they let people off from school earlier than on weekdays.

"Hm... how about a movie?" Why am I not surprised?

"Oh, sure." Hayama replies to Kaori's suggestion. "But what should we watch, though?"

"Horror?" he follows up again.

No, you'll bore the shit out of me.

"I was thinking along the lines of action." Kaori says, putting her own two cents. "There's that Fast and Furious movie playing, right?"

"Oh yeah!" Oh, looks like Kaori's managed to find a friend who shares her hobbies. "Let's watch that, Kaori!"

"What about you Uzuki-kun?"

"Sure. But I'm not sharing my popcorn." I pause. "And I'm saying that to you, Kaori."

"Eeeeh~? You're such a cheapskate, Naruru..."

I guess I won't share it with Hayama too, but like hell I'll say that; it'll sound gay.

With a destination in mind, we make our way towards the cinema. There is a cinema in this area, and during this time of the day, it shouldn't be too crowded. We want to get the best seats, after all, so we gotta go there fast. Thankfully, we managed to do so. We maintain our previous arrange; the two girls in the middle while us boys occupy the sides.

There's nothing much to say. Hollywood's production is still as grand as ever, Vin Diesel's still as bald as we remember him from the last movie, the cars are cool and the plot's as straight forward as ever. I'd rate it a solid nine outta ten. Oh, and Kaori won't stop gushing at how awesome the fight scenes are and 'realistic looking' they are.

Hah. My sweet summer child...

"Psst, Naruru."

I cast the brown haired girl beside me a sideward glance. "What?"

"Can you do that?" she points at a particular scene where The Rock and Jason Statham are fighting their way through a prison riot, evading and beating up any prison inmates and guards that stands in their way.

"What, like, all of that?"

"Yeah?"

I chuckle. "What do you think?"

"Fuuu... you always give me cryptic answers like that."

"You know me so well."

We spent more than two hours watching the movie. And, I must say, it was enjoyable. The money put into the movie were well used, but I prefer something lighthearted with comedy. Like, The Adventures of Pluto Nash or something.

No, that was a joke.

* * *

I managed to finish my popcorn and iced tea without Kaori succeeding on stealing any. And due to that, she's all pouting now.

"That movie was sooo good!" Chika exclaims. "Definitely better than the previous one."

I have to disagree. They could have ended it at Seven but... who am I kidding with, at the end of the day, it's a pretty dang good movie.

"Muuu... it would've been better if I _had_ popcorns for me to eat while watching... no thanks to mister stingy over _here_." turning her head swiftly to the side, Kaori avoids looking at me.

"Hey, I already told you I wasn't gonna share." Besides, you bought some chips for yourself.

I can hear Hayama and Chika giggling. Do they find our argument funny or something?

"By the way, Uzuki-kun, are you interested in looking for some snowboarding gear?"

"Hah?" pardon my bluntness. But what the fuck is with that question? "Why? What's the deal with snowboarding gears?"

Hayama laughs. "No, no. It's just, the weather's getting colder lately and snowboarding's actually a pretty fun thing to do."

"Oh, Naruru doesn't like the cold." all eyes turn to Kaori. Yes, even mine. "His skin gets sparky-sparky whenever it's cold."

"Kaori..." I slap my face in embarrassment and also as a way to hide my face.

"What?" Kaori looks at me with unabashed expression. "You say that you used to get electrocuted in the cold!"

"It's called static electricity, Kaori. You should've learned about this during seventh grade."

"Oh. Oooh..."

"I feel very ashamed as well, Uzumaki-san." Chika is also hiding her face with her hands.

"No, twice the shame for me."

Both Chika and I sigh at the same time. Looks like I've found a friend in her.

After so much complain from Kaori, we decide to go with Hayama's suggestion of finding snowboarding gear. Kaori's friend, Chika, seems to be enjoying herself. So it's true, she's taken a fancy for Hayama, eh? Well, good for her. But I can't help but feel sorry. Yes, it's hypocritical for me to feel sorry for a girl who would get rejected if she confesses to Hayama after rejecting one before myself. I am fully aware of that.

Kaori bobbles over to Hayama and Chika who are currently doing looking through winter clothing. It is getting pretty cold and Kaori was right about me not really liking the cold. It doesn't bother me, I just don't like static electricity popping against my skin whenever I touch things. Oh, I guess that counts as a bother, huh?

Again, I don't do well with this shopping thing. It still baffles me how women can endure something as torturous as this. I guess they don't have to endure anything since they're enjoying it in the first place. And it's the same way with Kaori. She has me give my opinions about which coat is the best looking, even though they all look the freaking same to my eyes. I reject her every time she wants me try out new clothing, since I'm still content with whatever apparel I have back at my apartment.

"Ne, ne, Chika; these'll look great with that sweater over there!"

"You're right, but look at the price Kaori... even with my current allowance and part time job combined..."

"Yeah..."

Hayama himself is lost in his own world. Looks like he's so into this whole snowboarding business. Meanwhile, here I am, hanging out outside of the store, leaning against the wall.

"Hm?"

"Ah."

Ah indeed...

"What's wrong Ebi...na...?"

Her emerald green eyes land on me, looking at me as if I'm a penguin in the lion exhibit in the local zoo. I don't know how she figured it out but, somehow, she knows that I'm not here alone.

"Haya-dow!"

Ah, she slips and falls as she's about to try those shoes...

"Y-Yumiko!"

Oh shit, we better Audi 5000 the heck out off this place. I make haste towards Hayama and the girls, whispering, even though I really don't want to, I say, "Let's get out of here."

"Hm, why?"

Thankfully, Hayama's easy to coerce.

No, wait that come out wrong.

"There's still an underground section that we haven't checked out. Wanna go there?" Society's representative for Alpha males asks us with his ever so charismatic voice.

And, yes, that was sarcasm.

"Sure!" Chika agrees in an almost immediate manner. Man, the more I watch it, the more painful it is.

"Psst, hey, Naruru." meanwhile, I'm being dragged down to Kaori's height by... well, Kaori herself. "Let's go and find some dessert to eat while those two are hitting it off." ow, don't just casually poke my rib like that.

"Kaori. Do you seriously think that Hayama's gonna date your friend by the end of this shopping trip?" I make sure to keep my voice as low as I can, so that only Kaori and myself is knowledgeable of the conversation.

"Well... to be honest, no." I sense disappointment in her voice. She really must want her friend to be happy, huh? "But seeing Chika like this... it makes me feel like I wanna root for her even if the guy's gonna reject her in the end, y'know?"

"Hm. Yeah, I can see that." I totally can.

"Hm, what's wrong?"

"It's nothing."

"...don't give me that crap." I purse my lips. It's useless lying to her. "You always say 'It's nothing' when there's something bothering you. C'mon, Naru, I'm the girl here."

Snorting, a grin forms on lip. "Tell you what, I'll tell you later. Even I know than to just... bottle this whole thing inside me."

Maybe I do need an outsider's insight to this? Yeah, I guess I do. But, hm... how will I explain things to her? I can't just say that I erased her memories even though that's literally what I did, right?

I can feel her small palms squeezing my right arm, the very same arm that she's been holding on to this whole time. Looking at Kaori, I see her making her trademarked smile.

"That's my cute cat man."

"I am not a cat man." Again with the whiskers...

"Yes you are."

"No I'm not."

"Yes." squeeze. "You." Squeeze. "Are."

I didn't say anything else after that. "...tch."

Looking content, Kaori's radiating an aura of cheery victory from her. It's obvious just from looking at her smiling face. I don't know why, but slowly, I too smile. Is this how things would always feel if Kaori and I...?

Yeah, it probably is.

"Heeeeh?! Hayato-kun!"

Like a swooping jackdaw, he crashes and sets for the worm that is Hayama Hayato. But instead of eating him, he's playing the role of a rejected girlfriend. Which is pretty normal considering that it's Tobe who we're talking about here. Yes, the very same Tobe who requested that unreasonable request to the club.

"Listen here, Hayato, bro!" boy can he whine. "I came here Iroha-ssu because she said she wanted a new tracksuit." But the Adidas store is upstairs, Tobe. "But she's been going on and on about those diet mumbo jumbo and protein!"

The idiot chooses that point to notice us lowly commoners. His eyes, naturally, land on the two girls first, before me, the last. Reeling back, panic strikes his face.

"Shit, dude, are we interrupting something?" No you're not interrupting anything here Tobe. "We'll be outta here in a sec." he turns around. "Right, Iroha-ssu?"

But Iroha-ssu is not there.

"Se~npai!"

Because Iroha-ssu is here. Right beside me.

With Kaori no longer holding my arm, Isshiki has the potential to control that part of my body. And that potential is turned to action by her.

Wait, how did she get over here?

"What are you doing here, se-n-pai~? Out having **fun**?"

Or in Japanese: _You have some nerve messing around town when you're supposed to be coming up with ways to solve my problem._

"Do I look like I'm having fun to you?" Look at this face, woman. Look at it. "Having to spend the rest of Saturday off with Hayama is not something that I'd consider fun."

"But who's that senpai, your girlfriend, don't tell me that you're having fun with your girlfriend when you're supposed to be doing work. And which one is yours, hm? The brown haired one? The black haired one? It's the brown haired one, right? She was holding on to your hand before. **Ne, ne, tell me,** **senpai**."

Holy shit girl, who the hell are you, Katsura Kotonoha? That's creepy! No, that was plain scary! You're scary Iroha-ssu~!

"Sorry about that, Iroha." the moment Hayama opens his mouth to apologize, this low key scary kouhai of mine stops her Katsura Kotonoha persona and returns to being as sweet as cotton candy. "I'm the one who dragged him here."

"Well, actually, I'm also here to hang out." I see where you're going with this, girl. "So, why don't we all hang out together?"

Stopping Hayama from speaking is his own best pal, Tobe, giving the underclassman a very worried look. "Irohassu, let's just go now, okay? Let's check out what they have downstairs!"

I can tell that Isshiki really wants to be with Hayama, but Tobe's acting like a spoiled kid. But rejecting Tobe can also mean looking bad in front of Hayama's eyes. So, being stuck in the kind of predicament she's in, Iroha-ssu chooses not to take any chances... at least not yet.

Saying one final goodbye, we went our separate ways. Now, it's the girls' turn to go on a shopping spree. Hayama scouted what he wanted see before so he's hanging back while Kaori and her friend are browsing for clothes and stuffs. Us two boys will just stand here in front of the shop with nothing to do.

"So... Iroha acts like that around you, huh?" He must have find waiting and standing boring if he's desperate enough to engage in a conversation with me.

"Wha'chu mean?"

Closing his eyes, the school's super star smiles before saying. "Iroha always tries to show off her cute side to most people. I guess she wants to be loved?"

Wanting to be loved.

Honestly speaking, I don't hear those words very often. While it is true that all people, no matter how desensitized and fucked up they are, wants or at least shows a minuscule amount of desire to be loved; I just can't help but feel... offended by it. Yes, offended.

I guess offended is a very strong word... maybe ticked off is a more appropriate one here.

But what's worse is that I don't know why I'm ticked off from hearing that fact.

"So it's rare for her to show her true self."

...at least I find this statement more bearable to hear.

Love, huh? I've learned that love is a give and take kind of deal. My parents' sacrifice was done out of their love for their village, but at the same time, it cost them their lives and their son's childhood. The Third Hokage's gentle way of ruling caused him the lost of one of his most prized pupil, as well as his own death ultimately. Itachi's love for Sasuke was so great that he was willing to wipe out the rest of his kin just so that he could prove his loyalty to his village.

Is love really as good as songs, poems and stories make them out to be?

I guess that it's a common misconception in today's society where if things are done out of 'love', it end result will always be good. But I've seen cases where that wasn't the case. If love is used as a mean to an end, then, I guess it only brings up more room for argument. We have long abandoned honor and chivalry. But love still remains until today. It is a strong concept.

...But if love is indeed strong, then, I wouldn't have become the man I am now.

"I heard you used to date her back in junior high?"

The flames of conversation has been reignited. At least this way, I won't have to stare at blank and lifeless mannequins for the next hour or so.

"Kaori? Yeah."

"Is she your type?"

I struggle to find an answer. "I didn't really consider these things when we dated. We just, kinda, sort of clicked at that time so we dated."

Silence walks past us, building up unfamiliar tension.

"If you don't mind me asking... why did you two..."

"Broke up?"

Hayama is surprised, probably from how blunt I say those words. "Yes..."

"Well, my reputation was too much for the both of us to handle. So the only wise decision was for us to split up and go our separate ways. She goes to Kaihin, I go to Soubu."

I receive no further reply or any indication of such things from Hayama. Looks like he's' thinking about something.

"...but the two of you seems so close."

"That's cuz we're cool with each other." I deadpan. "And it's not like things were different back then..." Oh god, this is embarrassing.

"Yeah, I can kind of picture that."

"Don't do that, it's disgusting." I don't want you picturing my junior high school life.

"Then.. can you really call what you had with her as 'love'?"

I give my fellow blonde a sideway glance.

"Neither you. Nor I."

I remember, during that whole field trip episode, when Tobe confessed that he's attracted to Ebina. He asked Hayato who he's interested in. After resisting, the dude gave in, saying that he's interested in someone with the initial 'Y' in their name.

At first, I was like,

 _Ho' shit_.

But then, I remembered, I knew more than one person who has the letter Y as an initial, so, it didn't really matter back then.

"Well." I take a step forward, ready to leave. "I don't know about you, but, it's not like there's only one type of love in the world. Thinking that you'll only 'love' the person you'll date is very childish. What are we, fifth graders? But, yeah, I don't love Kaori... at least not the in way you consider what 'love' is."

I stifle a yawn, holding my mouth.

"...but I can say for sure that I love her the way I love my friends. Anyway, c'mon, let's go, the girls are just about done with paying for their stuffs."

* * *

"C'moooon just a sip?"

"No."

"Then a lick?"

"No." a pause. "And don't say that, it's misleading."

"Tch... cheapskate..."

I can tolerate many things, but sharing my hot chocolate isn't one of them. After the tiring journey called shopping, we decide to grab dinner at cafe. They also serve food here thus the more pricey menu. But, hey, I haven't complained about this hot cocoa so...

Anyway, I'm just glad that we're about done. I don't think I can handle anymore shopping, I have enough for the day. Or week. Or month. Or lifetime. In any case, after finishing our food, I should be able to leave and return to my work. The girls are lost in a one sided conversation with Hayama, I say one sided because they're the ones who do most of the talking. The guy sitting beside me can only smile and say yes to everything the girls say. And, obviously, things go smoothly.

Maybe saying 'yes' to everything is okay, after all?

...no. I stand over my ideals to not want to not get too attached with people. There is only hurt at the end of the road.

Hm?

Wait, who's that? Sitting at the corner table, dressed in your common anonymous attire; a coat, shades and a beanie over her head. Yes, her.

Yukinoshita Haruno...

Oh, look, she's waving her hand at me. Making a 'sssh'ing gesture. I release a very long mental sigh. I didn't sense her before when we were shopping, so she must have just arrived now.

"So, so, Naru, you found a girlfriend yet?"

...even I don't know how I'm not choking on my hot chocolate after hearing that question being casually thrown to my face. I bring the mug down from my lips, placing it on the small table in front of us. They're looking at me with eyes that scream out curiosity, well, except for Hayama of course. But I won't let it past him; he's probably curious too on how I'm gonna answer Kaori's question.

"No." I say with little feeling. "Still single but it's not like it's a bad thing." there, I say it. So... "But what about you, Kaori, found someone you fancy yet?"

My ex bursts out in laughter, finding my question hilarious. "Ahahaha! What, that's hilarious!" see? A few seconds later, her laughing quiets down, finally answering me, she says. "No. I'm... still not seeing anyone."

"Oh? But what about Tamanawa-kun, Kaori?" I raise my eyebrow. Ohohoho? "He seems like a good guy, right?"

"C-Chika!"

I cannot stop the smirk from growing on my face. But Kaori notices this, so, she calls me on it. "W-What's with that smile, huh, Naru?! There's nothing going on between me and Tamanawa, okay!? Hmph!"

Wow, so tsun, much dere. Haah...

Shaking my head, I let a few chuckles escape from my mouth. This only makes her even more embarrassed, ticking her off even further.

"D-Don't listen to her, Naru..." she lets out one frustrated sigh. "Moou... even though tonight's such a good night."

Speaking of night, it is already dark outside. I think it's best to split up and end today's outing here. I send my classmate hinting glances and thankfully, he's sharp enough to guess what I mean.

"Well, it's already quite late isn't it?" Hayama brushes his pants after drinking away the remains of his coffee before standing up. "Why don't we split up here and-"

"Hayato-kun?"

"Ma...ki?"

My head swivels toward the direction of the two voices. The first thing I notice is the tense look on their face. They are still wearing their school uniform, so they must've spent time together after school today. Immediately, my eyes dart towards the place where a particular Onee-san was sitting before. I say 'was' because she's no longer there.

"Yukinoshita, Yui?"

"Eh, eh?!" Kaori's looking at my two club mates back and forth with wide eyes. "You know these two babes, Naru?"

I slap myself on the face. Chika's doing the same gesture as I am and Hayama can only let out awkward laughing. "Kaori, these two _babes_ are my club mates."

"Still babes, Naru!"

Well, she ain't wrong.

"Ahahaha..." Yui's face is dusted with redness, reminding me of the strawberry syrup cinnamon cake I just ate earlier. "W-We came to ask Hayato-kun if he wants to be a candidate for... the election..."

Now I'm confused.

"Okay, but, how the heck did you two know where we'll be?" I look at Hayama. "You told them?"

"No. I had no reason to." Doesn't feel like he's lying, but... then...?

"A-Anyway, Maki, uh... are these two... eh... um..." Fumbling and tumbling with her words, Yui looks like she's hesitating over something. I don't think she's ever been nervous about meeting new people. What changed now?

"Uh, Yukinoshita, Yui... this is Orimoto Kaori, she's my ex-girlfriend that... I talked about at some point." God, that can't be anymore awkward than that. "A-Anyway, Yukinoshita, how did you know that we'll be here?"

Rather than answering me immediately, she pulls out her phone. I notice a number written on the top of the screen, but I don't recognize the number, at least not if I can't see my own phone for confirmation.

"It's Nee-san." Is her answer, irritation barely noticeable. "She texted me earlier, saying that you're here on a double date with Hayato-kun when you're supposed to be fulfilling your duties as a club member."

Oh that rat...! Raising my hands, I take a step back, for some reason. "Yukinoshita, I can explain."

"Oh? Settling for reasons when you're caught red handed as you are now, huh? Very well then, entertain us, Uzumaki-kun." I... really don't like how she's making me feel like a five year old who's about to get grounded by his hard assed mother.

"Okay, so, listen to me..."

So, I began explaining.

Now seated and less pissed off, Yukinoshita is pinching the bridge of her nose. Yui is giving Kaori subtle looks, something that Kaori fails to notice, while Hayama is having small, awkward conversations with Chika, acting like the normal ones in the group.

"I see... so Nee-san is involved..." her voice has never contained so much irritation and annoyance.

I told her about yesterday's meeting with Haruno and how she called Hayama all the way from school to meet us. Now, we're in this situation we've found ourselves in, all tangled up in this web of misunderstandings large enough to catch school buses.

"I'm... sorry for being so hostile with you, Uzumaki-kun, I really am." This is one of the instances when she's using a very sincere and honest tone, completely rid of the usual biting playfulness it is normally accompanied with.

"Nah, don't worry." my glance switches over to Yui. "What about you, though, you really here to talk to Hayama?"

Twiddling with her thumbs, Yui stumbles with her words, still sending less-than-subtle glances to Kaori who is staring at Yukinoshita herself. "W-Well, yeah, since it's really impossible to solve Iroha-chan's request without any representative..."

I sigh. "I know it..." We're not getting anywhere with this request and I don't think I can continue with any planning after this, I really need to work on my book. I can still have some clones think about it but I rather do things like planning myself. "So, Hayama, what do you think?"

Hayama, who has stopped engaging in a conversation with Kaori's friend, gives us all a sheepish look. Raising one hand, he smiles in a very wishy washy way. "Sorry Yukino, Yui; but I'm not looking forward to being the student council president."

"Haaah, right?"

Well that's disappointing. For us, I mean. But I can't blame Hayama, no one likes responsibility. And it's not like Hayama's going to get a bad rep for not accepting, in fact, people will probably agree with him more and see us as bothersome.

"Hm... this will make our task considerably harder, then." Yes, I have to agree with my club president. "Uzumaki-kun, do you have any plans?"

How many times do I have to say it? "Sorry, but still nothing. Isshiki's request isn't a small one to begin with either, so it's only natural that it'll take us more time to come up with solutions." I can see several nods from us Soubu students. "But we'll only be wasting more time trying to solve this she-bang without finding another candidate, unless, of course, Isshiki decides to be the bigger girl and be student council president... herself."

Somehow, that last solution doesn't sit right with all of us.

"But... doing that will, like, beat the point of Iroha-chan's request, right?" Yui has just provided us with a reason of why that outcome is very unlikely. "Maki, is there anything else we can do?"

While her turning to me for an answer can be seen as a sign of trust, I do not feel comfortable with the constant need to think. Besides, looking at Kaori and Chika, it seems that our one sided discussion has made the other party a little bit out of place.

"Sorry to suddenly leave you guys out of the loop, Kaori." Ho' shit, I forgot Chika's last name. "But we can call it a day here if you want it?"

After letting out a few giggles, Kaori slaps me lightly on the arm. "Sure. It's always like you to get into troubles like these, eh?" Haha, bite me.

No, she'll really bite me, so, no.

Rolling my eyes, I restrain myself from blowing raspberries at her. "Yeah, yeah, I'm a big bad fox who causes trouble, what's it to you?"

"A lot, actually, foxy." sheesh, she's becoming sly this season... "Anyway, sure, we can call it a day." she turns to her friend. "Right Chika?"

"Oh, sure." I'm glad that you're an understanding person... Chika-san. "It was nice to hang out with you, Hayama-kun, and you too Uzumaki-san."

We say our pleasantries and shortly later, the two girls from Kaihin leave the establishment, leaving us Soubu students over here to think of our current dilemma. Well, Hayama doesn't really have to do anything, but he somehow feels responsible for Isshiki's problem. We spend the next ten minutes talking and discussing, but to no luck.

"Aww... it's getting kinda late and mama wants me to be home." Yui whines, looking a little bit embarrassed. Don't worry, Yui, our princess over there probably has a stricter curfew than you. "Sorry guys, Yukinon, but I need to go home..."

The three of us nod. "Sure, it's fine. It's getting late anyway." I really need to go home. "How about we continue this on the club room tomorrow? Bring Isshiki too while we're at it." she is the root of this whole tree we call a mess.

"Indeed. We shall resume this again tomorrow." Says Yukinoshita. "But, your presence won't be necessary, Hayato-kun."

Wow, girl, that's harsh.

"Ahahaha... I can't help it, you know? Iroha is a friend after all." Wow, sorry Isshiki, but looks like you've been friendzoned before you even have the chance to tell this dude your feelings. "Uzuki-kun, please, take care of Iroha, okay?"

I don't like the way this fella's speaking as if he's Isshiki's big brother or something.

"...as long as the problem is solved, Isshiki will be fine." I brush off his earlier comment. "And we will solve it, one way or another."

I've made my resolve. Tomorrow, real work is gonna get done.

* * *

"Whoa... Uzumaki, you look way worse than me on a weekend night after several cans of beer."

That's... actually very disturbing. I don't think anyone can look way worse than Hiratsuka-sensei on a weekend night after several cans of beer. Looking more miserable than... that, my features are less than likable this morning. Bags under my eyelids, bloodshot eyes... wrinkles...

"That's very worrying, thank you for your concern Hiratsuka-sensei."

"Cranky too..." Sensei sighs. "Alright, you're not a girl on her period Uzumaki, so why the horrible face?"

It's amusing that she's just compared my overall expression and condition to a girl on her period, but I decide not to comment anything. By the way, this woman called me in order to talk to me. By the looks of it, she wants update.

"Oh you know, the usual."

"Depression?"

I blink. "Do... your students actually come here to consult those kind of topics with you?"

"Only the good looking ones." She sighs, confusing me ultimately. "Alright, so for real, how are things going?"

"Slow. Real slow." I say with as little emotion as I can. "We're talking Japan's increase level of birth rate slow." that is not a hyperbole.

"It's that bad huh...?" go figure. "Well, sadly, even as a teacher, I can't just find someone who's willing to be student council president just like that. This is the kind of position where responsibility is needed, not like the things you see on mainstream media."

Ouch. Bang bang, shots fired.

Shrugging my shoulders, the only thing I can do is give her a flat look with my eyes empty and horrible.

"So that should explained why you look so goddamn horrible this morning, huh?"

"Yeah, bingo. Had to think of things last night, add my never ending manuscript quota to the mix and you have what you see now as a result." letting out a yawn, I wasn't able to stop it. "Anyway, can I go now? I have English for next period and I need to submit my assignment."

Oh yeah, did I mention that I had to cram this one thousand word essay too last night? I let a clone did all the writing for it, I'll probably get a B or C for it... oh wait, Japanese schools don't use letters for their scores.

"Sure, you can go now." she lets me leave, finally.

But not before saying...

"Just don't hurt yourself, okay?"

...somehow, I get the feeling that she wants to say something more than that.

* * *

"Here: lunch."

When making a bento, one must be very specific and careful in choosing the ingredients. Yet at the same time, the ingredients used for a bento must be cheap and easy to find, meaning that you can only use the stuff in your fridge or the ones you can find in the supermarket down your street. The lunch I have prepared are stored inside your traditional rectangular lunchboxes, wrapped with a normal white towel to keep them in place. Placing it on the table, my two club mates hover over them as soon as I do so.

"Whooa... Maki's bento... I'm about to eat Maki's bento..." Yui's whispering something very eerily for some reason. And that look on her face is very unusual.

"As far as packaging goes, it seems okay." here comes our resident perfectionist and connoisseur. But her eyes are anything if not pleased. "Let us open them, shall we?"

I shrug. "Go ahead."

I give them their respective lunches, not like there's going to be any different. I also packed one for myself, in case anyone's wondering. It'd be very weird of me to make these two lunches but not for myself, right? At a very awkward timing, the three of us open our respective lunchboxes. I can already hear surprised gasps from Yui and hums of approval from Yukinoshita.

Ugh, it's a little bit tilted, probably should've handled it more carefully next time.

"W-Wow... this looks amazing! There's salad, meat, veggies and all that!" What's with the surprise, Yui? It's everything that a normal bento would have.

"A balanced meal. It's shocking to think that you're the one who made this, Uzumaki-kun." is what I hear come out from Yukinoshita's mouth. "I thought we're going to be having instant ramen for lunch today."

"Oi." I point my chopsticks at her direction. "For the record, I only eat my ramen alone. No way I'm going to waste precious ramen on other people..."

"Uzumaki-kun... cooking aside, you disappoint me." I don't like your tone, girl.

"Lets dig in already, okay guys? Can we?" Look who's hungry over here. Well, for someone who can't cook, Yui sure as hell can eat.

The moment she digs her chopsticks into the food, food is already being placed inside her mouth. She starts off with the meat, unsurprisingly, a perfectly cooked mini-sized burger patty with demi-glace sauce which is basically Salisbury steak.

"Mmmmmmmph~! Dish ish shooo goooohd...~" I figure she'd like it. I made them just like how those kids' meal in family restaurants would, so, I guess it's normal for Yui to like it? Since she's a kid? "Yukinon, Yukinon, you should try the steak!"

However, Yukinoshita opts for the more subtle, yet richer and healthier potato salad instead. When making this, I didn't really turn the potatoes into a mash, I just chopped them into small cubic pieces for easier consumption. Putting a piece in her mouth, Yukinoshita begins eating.

"Hmm... this is delicious and really balanced." I see her eyes going wide. "And this mayonnaise based dressing is delish, what did you use?"

"It better be delicious. It took me three days to make that potato salad, three days..."

"...?" Yukinoshita tilts her head sideways, looking confused.

Oh, she doesn't get the reference...

"Well, I used real mayonnaise, duh, and as for acid... I used lemon juice, a little bit of apple cider vinegar and two table spoons of mustard for a little bit of heat." the dills and chopped onion is just for aesthetics and garnish.

"Looks like I'll have to try it sometimes..." now she's muttering to herself.

As we speak, Yui's already halfway through her lunch. Damn gurl, you eat like a horse. Of course, I'm not going to say that to her face, since all girls are very fragile creatures with this thing called 'feelings' in them. We continue our lunch in relative silence, only making necessary noises... but the same cannot be said for Yui since she keeps on gushing things like 'so delish~' and 'hmmmmhmmm~' or stuff.

It's nice to see that she's enjoying what I've made for her, looking at her eat somehow warms my heart. It reminds me of the first time I made food for Komachi and at that time, we weren't as close as we are now. It kinda stuck to her, my cooking. In fact, I can proudly say that it was me who motivated her to learn how to cook... that and her workaholic of a mother.

"Puaaah... that was very delicious Maki..." Yui's voice is the epitome of satisfaction. She looks like she can sleep at any time right now.

"And a very balanced meal too, Uzumaki-kun. The salad, especially." I thank your compliments, my queen.

"You're welcome you two." though they didn't say thank you, I'll just consider it as that. "Yukinoshita, please pack the lunchboxes again, I need to buy a drink outside."

"Okay."

Leaving the club room, I start walking to make my way towards the vending machines just down the hall, left of our club room. It's sad that Isshiki has her duties as the soccer club manager, explaining why she can't join us, so it seems that we'll just have to plan this shit all by ourselves... again. Well, it's not like Isshiki will be much help to begin with...

Don't get me wrong, she's a nice girl, but I don't think that she'll come up with a good way to save herself. Besides, if she could, then she should've been able to do so without our help. What's with her anyway? What did she do to piss off a group of thirty people or so to put her in the kind of position she's in?

Ugh... girls can be harsh, way harsher than guys.

Reaching the vending machine, I pull out some change from my pocket. Let's see... what should I get... milk tea sounds like a good choice.

"Boop."

As soon as my finger presses the button of my choosing, the packaged drink I ordered is dispensed into the collecting bin with a loud thunk. Bending forward, I reach my hand inside, bringing out the cold drink so that I can enjoy.

It's in a can, so, I should be able to finish it quickly here. Cracking open the cap, I begin chugging down on the contents of my drink. The artificially flavored drink is as sweet as I remember it to be. But the taste of tea reigns dominant over the subtle taste of milk. I can feel whatever leftover food in my system being washed down by the drink. After making sure that I've gotten every last drop, I throw the can into the correct recycling bin.

"Welp, time to go back."

"A-Ano...!"

I stop dead on my tracks, my feet frozen stiff. Turning my body slowly, I turn to meet the person who has grabbed my attention. Blinking like an owl, I cannot say I recognize this person. Girl.

"Are you... Uzumaki Naruto-kun? You are Uzumaki Naruto-kun, right?"

What's with the double questions? Are you that afraid of mistaking me for someone else?

But, I answer anyway. "I am Uzumaki Naruto. What can I do for you?" I ask back.

She fidgets, her body bouncing in small staccatos as a sign of impatience and slight anxiety. Her glasses framed eyes covering a pair of doubtful orbs which are looking at me, she then finally opens her mouth again to speak.

"I need to talk to you... it's about Sagami."

My breath hitches.

"...sure."

Forget about getting real work done.

* * *

 **Hey ya'll, sorry for the late update, something came up that needed to be done. For now, it's all under control, so I can work on the next chapter as soon as I upload this one. Don't know if I can update quicker, but I'll try my best to do so.**

 **Have a chill day and stay safe, it's dark times we're going through.**


	22. Dynamic Inertia in The School

Her name is Ayano Ayaka and apparently, she's a student from my class. Looks like she has ascended from her background character status this time. Anyway, moving on, she has something important to tell me. Something concerning a mutual... acquaintance.

"Sorry to drag you out suddenly like this, Uzumaki-kun."

That can be taken a little bit literal, considering that we are now no longer inside the school, but on top of it. The roof is the last place I would expect her to bring me to and there are several reasons for it, but the most obvious one is how cold it is outside. I have no problem with the cold, but will she be okay, though?

"It's fine. Lessons are over anyway..." I really hope that Yukinoshita and Yui don't mess around with my laptop. "So, what is this about... Sagami...?"

I see her fidgeting and shifting in a way that radiates uneasiness and overall uncomfortable vibes. With her glasses, twin braids and freckles; you'll never expect her as the type of person to approach you so easily, much less being one of Sagami's friends. After hesitating for a good minute, yes I am patient enough to wait for her to answer, she finally speaks.

"During the school festival... Sagami-chan confessed to you, didn't she?" the words escape her mouth. "Or at least, she attempted to do so, right?"

Hm, looks like people still remember about it. Of course, the only one who doesn't is Sagami herself since I erased that part of the equation along with whatever feelings she has for me. Shoving my palms to my pockets, I shrug.

"Honestly, I don't even know myself." that's a lie, of course. And I can't say I hate it.

She purses her lips, clenching the hem of her skirt tighter than I've ever seen a girl does. "W-Well... that doesn't matter. What matters is what we have now. Lately... Sagami-chan has been acting weird. And I'm not even kidding here."

I tilt my head sideways. "Oh, how so?" I am interested to hear.

"During the school festival, we had a falling out with Sagami-chan. She... was too busy with her duties as Head Chairman that we felt like she has... neglected our friendship. She didn't come to meet ups, she never joined us for lunch anymore... and that continues even after the festival. But... just a few days ago, she returned to us as if nothing went wrong. It's like... she's a new yet familiar person at the same time."

...crap.

"She'd casually butt in during conversations when in fact we no longer talk to each other and-and she, uh... acts the way she's like before the school festival. It's as if her change never even happened."

...don't mind me, I am too busy listening and contemplating the fact of whether or not I should hit myself on the head.

"N-Naturally... we just go along with Sagami-chan again, as if we've never had a falling out before. B-But... to some of us, it's a little bit suspicious... her actions and behavior... especially since what's happened during the school trip to Kyoto. There... you see, Sagami-chan's always missing whenever it's a group activity, saying that she had to meet someone or something like that... I was worried you see..."

"...but how did it lead to me?"

"Well... it's no secret that Sagami-chan's interested in you before, Uzumaki-kun." her voice falters a little bit, is she shy? "S-So... I figured that, you might have something to do with it, as you're someone who might not want to see Sagami-chan after Sagami-chan's attempted confession."

...clever girl.

"And, well, your reputation precedes you."

I knew it.

I sigh, rubbing the back of my head. What should I say here? She's on point about me being responsible for Sagami's recent behavior. Even though I made sure to erase every phone call or message history between us that Sagami has ever had on her phone... I was not careful enough to consider her friends in the equation.

But I can't really tell her the whole truth now can I?

"Well, eh, Ayano-chan, I understand why you'd come to me about this since this does make me look like the prime suspect." I am the suspect here. "But I'm afraid you're asking the wrong guy for answers. I don't even know Sagami-san that well, to be honest. Aside from the committee work, we don't have anything going on."

I can see distrust on her face; she's doubting me. "O-Oh... I see." but she refuses to believe me, I can sense it. "T-Then... will you at least talk to Sagami-chan?"

Huh?

I blink like a wide eyed Barn Owl. Did I hear her right? She wants me to talk to Sagami? For what?

"What for?" I ask anyway.

"To confirm things." is her heavy reasoning. "I... I can't stand the gap between us, even though we're all hanging out as usual, I can sense that there's this rift between Sagami-chan and the rest. It's as if... we've lost a part of her..."

Yeah, I'm starting to regret erasing Sagami's memory a little bit.

"..."

It took me a while to come up with a response for her, but when I do, I've made sure that I'm certain at what I'll do.

"Ayano-san, I'm afraid that I can't really help you." I see her shoulders sag visibly. "But... if it's something to you, I'll try to keep my distance from Sagami-san, let things mend itself between you and your group."

"I-I... see." she swallows air, no choice but to accept my answer. "T-Thank you for the talk, Uzumaki-kun..."

I smiled. "It's okay."

* * *

Why do we lie?

Is it to protect oneself from a very harsh revelation? To prevent the leakage of a very shocking truth? These two reasons are very good answers because they are both correct.

Humans lie as they breathe, for as long as they live, their lips will utter lies. Some say that it's in our nature as humans to lie, and there are countless evidence to support this. Take a child for example, a boy no older than six years old. Let's say he ate the last cookie in the jar and his mom asked him whether he was the one who ate it or not.

Humans, being a sentient and emotional being, have this natural response to defend themselves from whatever harm or consequences that may befall them, this is triggered by a very particular thing called fear. Back to the boy, as he's aware of there being potential consequence behind his action, possibly due to mistakes witnessed previously or just out of instinct, he will attempt to defend himself by denying his mother's assumption of him being the one who ate the last cookie in the jar.

Heck, smarter kids might even go as far as blaming others for the things they did.

What I did before was no different. I needed to lie because I can't tell Ayano that I erased a part of Sagami's memories that might have been the cause of her shift in behavior. Should I not lie, it will lead to the revelation of the truth that I am, in fact, not an ordinary person and I can't allow that to happen.

The... same goes for Sagami, but that is for an entirely different reason.

Honestly, my initial impressions on her weren't that good, but that is something we both shared. I didn't like her for making fun of Yui and I got back at her by making her work her ass off during the school festival. But you can't blame me for not counting in the chances of her falling for me at the end of it all, can you? Love was never in the equation to begin with! I don't even get why she'd fall in love with me!

But... I changed that. I've erased her memories about loving me. This means that she's never attempted to confess to me on the roof nor did she confessed to me during the Kyoto trip. It certainly explains the change of behavior in Sagami since I've cut and trimmed important scenes that caused her initial change in the first place...

And, yes, I am fully aware that what I've done was questionable at least and downright cruel at the most. To tamper with people's memory was not something I consider... ethical once, but after centuries of living, I have no questions against its usefulness in covering up tracks and, well, existence.

It was a mistake on my part... a miscalculation, if one can call it that. I should have factored her friends and other people rather than just erase her memory all willy nilly, even my own club mates are suspicious. And I'm not in a position where I can relax either. If Ayano pressured Sagami into talking about me, it might cause undesirable effects in the future.

Which is why, I must do the opposite of what I've promised and keep a closer eye on Sagami.

After making sure that Ayano has left the rooftop, I summon a clone to existence.

"You know what to do... and don't screw things up even further."

"...yes Boss."

He transforms into a dove before flying away to do what I've just said.

This is going to be one hell of a week...

* * *

" _Ah, Onii-chan, can we meet up?"_

It's always nice to hear Komachi's voice after her notable absence these past few chapters.

Being the good (un)official big brother I am, I was quick to response to her call. "Of course Komachi, anything for you."

" _Uwaaaa... that's actually pretty creepy, Onii-chan."_ I ignore the blatant disgust in her voice when she says that. _"Anyway, let's go to Mc'Donalds, it's near my school after all."_ meaning that it's also near mine too, but sure.

"Okay, I'll see you there, be careful on the way, okay?"

" _Okay, love you Onii-chan, see you later~!"_

OOOOOOH! ONII-CHAN MODE ON!

"...Yuigahama-san, if I were you, I'd refrain from being anywhere within ten feet of that... _thing_ over there."

"M-Maki... that was kinda... ew."

I turn to glare at the two girls who are tidying their belongings before we could leave the club room together. "You're just jealous of me, the two of you." Not having such a caring and loving sister is a fate worse than death and eternal damnation in hell!

My glare is returned by an even colder one. "Jealous? Why would I be jealous of someone like you who only knows how to be disgusting?" Lay it on me woman, I'm ice cold! "I might catch the siscon influenza virus if I'm near you, in fact, we better exit this room soon before it spreads, Yuigahama-san."

Yukinoshita, that wonderful bitch, begins to drag a chuckling Yui out of the room, leaving me to lock the door. But I'm not gonna let her have the last laugh.

"Oi!" I shout at them as I pick up my pace to catch on to them, which isn't very hard since Yukinoshita's pretty slow. "Siscon virus is airborne and spreads at a very fast rate!" Faster than ebola. "So it's impossible to dodge it!"

"You're not even denying it anymore?!" Shuddup Yui, no one likes your tsukkomi!

"There's no point in denying it if it's true, after all, Yuigahama-saAAAAAAHN!"

That last outburst is my responsibility.

After I catch up to them, I jumped and landed in between the both of them, draping my arms over their neck, catching them on a headlock that nullifies whatever effort they've put into grooming their hair. They squirm and struggle under my hold and futile attempts to escape the hold are made. But they do not know that this is the Big Brother Supreme Headlock that I'm using! A technique used by good and loving big brothers in the world to punish cheeky little sisters!

Normally, you're supposed to use your other hand to give your rebellious sibling a mean noogie, but since I'm holding on two people, that's not an option. Then, plan B:

Armpit Pawah!

"U-Uzumaki-kun! S-Stop this! This is sexual harrassment!"

"M-Maki you smell! You're sweaty!"

That is only the after effect of being a very manly and responsible older brother, Yui, no need to worry. "Harassment? This is punishment. Now, be quiet and give in to the smell."

"Noooo! Yukinon do something! You're the one who made fun of him! Kyaaa!"

"T-That's impossible Yuigahama-saaaaan!"

Yeah, they were giving us weird looks until we reach the front of the school gates. But, hey, I'm not the one who's feeling so embarrassed to the point where it's okay to die.

* * *

"Onii-chan!"

"Komachi." I'd shout out loud if I could, but they'll report the police on me. Again.

I pet her head as soon as she's within my reach and I can already hear the sound of satisfaction she'd make whenever I'm petting her coming out of her mouth.

"Let's go inside, it's cold outside." I can see those pearly whites. Looks like she's been brushing properly.

"Sure. You pick a seat while I go and order. The usual, right?"

She gives me a very cute wink. "Yup."

I give her hair one last ruffling before I head on towards the ordering counter. As expected from a fast food chain at rush hour, it is pretty crowded with customers lining up in front. I hope that Komachi will be able to find us seats. But, aside from a few minutes of waiting, it ain't so bad.

Finally, after two minutes of waiting, it's my turn to order.

"Hi, welcome to Mc'Donalds, may I take your order?" the lady in front of me has her business smile on just like the rest of her colleagues.

"Uh... I'll take one chicken sandwich with a large coke-" for Komachi. "-a Big Mac with medium diet coke-" I dunno, I just like the taste of diet coke. "-and a Mcnuggets."

"Six or nine?"

"Nine." I pause. "Oh and a smile, please." I poke both of my cheeks with my index fingers while smiling.

Naturally, this makes the lady smile, chuckling at the request. "Your order is coming right up, I'll make sure that it's extra fresh for you." her left eye closes to form a wink.

Oookay, didn't expect for things to go that far, so, okay.

"Here's your order." she places the food I ordered earlier on the tray on the counter. Then, uncharacteristically of a Mc'Donald's cashier, she leans forward. "Look under the napkin."

I can only giver her a slow nod as I withdraw myself from the counter where a long line has now formed. She's even waving her hand at me. After a little bit of searching and walking around, I rejoin Komachi on our newly acquired seats.

"What took you so long, Onii-chan? Don't tell me that you're flirting with the cashier again?" she casts me a pouty look with a glare.

"Wait, 'again'? I've done this before?"

"Aha, so you were flirting with the cashier!"

Dammit, she tricked me. "Alright, but in all seriousness, no. I didn't flirt with her." I pause. "At least, I don't think I was. Now, anyway, how's your day today?" Oh, I pocket the note underneath the napkin when Komachi isn't looking.

Grabbing and then unwrapping her chicken sandwich, Komachi has the honor of having the first bite. She chews and swallow her food properly before answering me, as expected of her.

"It was okay, nothing unusual happened." Then, I see sparkles forming on her eyes. "But enough about me, how's your day, Onii-chan? Did everything go well with Yukino-san and Yui-san?"

"Hah? Why're you asking about them?" You're ruining this bonding moment, Komachi. "But... I guess they're fine? Yukinoshita's still a sassy bitch and Yui's still one of the worst student in my class."

"U-Uwaaah... this person..." she lets out one heck of a sigh, as if I've just disappointed her to hell and back. "I mean, did anything interesting happen with Yui-san and Yukino-san? The three of you are friends, after all, so I expect at least some form of bonding."

"Bonding... huh?" I hum. I realize that I haven't touched my Big Mac at all. Well, time to remedy that. "Well," I take a big bite, chew and swallow before I can resume what I was saying. "we talked over tea?"

My (un)related little sister sends me a look that spells 'are you kidding me, that's it?' She shakes her head, sighing again with twice the emphasis on the disappointment. "Don't you guys do that, like, every time? There's nothing special about that!"

"But I do enjoy it." wait, let me correct myself. "The three of us enjoyed it. It may be weird for you, Komachi, but to us, sitting inside the club room, drinking Yukinoshita's hand brewed tea, listening to Yui's chattering and dealing with my annoying antics have been some sort of Modus Operandi in the club."

"Yeah, it's kinda weird for a club to only be doing something like that instead of real club activities, but it's not like our service club's a normal club in the first place, you know?" a certain kouhai comes to mind. "Aw, crap, Isshiki..."

"Hm? Hm? Who's this Isshiki person, Onii-chan?"

I look at her, then it extends into staring. After a while, I finally answer, "She's just... an un-cute version of you, Komachi."

"Oho? Someone like me?"

"No, but a little bit." I admit with a little bit of hesitation.

"Eeeeh... so... this Isshiki-san person... she's a girl, huh?"

"Well, yes." I say, after sipping on my diet coke. "But don't worry Komachi, no one can ever replace you!" I declare, holding my nose high. "Oh, that scored a lot of Naruto points, what do you think?"

"No. Can... you just... leave the points thing to us girls?"

Tch.

"But, it's kinda amazing that you're always surrounded by girls, Onii-chan." Ho? "Looking at Yui-san and Yukino-san, I'll take a wild guess that this Isshiki person is probably beautiful or very cute." I just said to you that she's like an uncute version of you. "And... honestly speaking, I won't be surprised if you had, like, a girlfriend or an ex-girlfriend or something."

Urk.

"Mooou... Onii-chan, when will Komachi get a big sister?" she whines while stirring her cup with the straw given by the cashier lady before. "I want a big sister, Onii-chan. Preferably a cool black haired Onee-san who knows what she's doing or a cute and busty pink haired and clumsy but cute big sister who's very nice."

I chuckle, a difficult expression slipping on to my face. "Wow, you're not very subtle aren't you?"

"Subtlety's not Komachi's strong point, Onii-chan~" she sticks her tongue out, mocking me with a sing-song tone. "But, seriously, just get a girlfriend already Naruto Onii-chan. Otherwise... Komachi might fall for you."

…

...

...

A moment of silence passes by, as I sit there speechless and surprised by what Komachi has just said. She's casually drinking her cola from her straw, as if she's never said something weird.

"Hahaha, you're hilarious, Komachi." God, I'm turning into Kaori! Kaorin scary!

Instead of laughing along with me, my (un)related little sister shrugs. "Four more years then I'll be old enough to be considered of legal age to be in a relationship with anyone."

I really don't like how easily she's just said that.

"And, rather than finding some guy out there who I never know and waste the time trying to get to know them, I'd rather go with someone I've known for a long time." she hums, while giving me looks. "And you're good looking too, Onii-chan, totally Komachi's type, and of course, we're not even blood related."

 _We're not even blood related..._

 _...blood related..._

 _...blood related..._

…

"Onii-chan? Onii-chan? You've gone cold turkey on me, Onii-chan."

My brain is akin to a computer which has just experienced a complete shut down, only to be rebooted back into operation by Komachi's voice. My eyes waver as I look at the girl in front of me. Yes, Komachi and I are not real siblings. We're just two strangers brought together by weird circumstances to a point where we're close enough to act like siblings.

So, technically speaking, it'd be a hundred percent okay for Komachi to legally date me.

Oh God.

Taking a sip from my drink, I slowly let go of the straw from my mouth. It's settled.

I need to try and get into a relationship.

* * *

"Isshiki, girl, come here."

The first year students inside are giving me weird looks. It's understandable. It's kinda creepy for a senpai to snoop around their kouhai's classroom, even though they – technically – have full rights to do so. I have the upper half of my body peeking out of the side of the door, my hand repeatedly motioning Isshiki in a 'come here' gesture.

I'm going full creepo right now, but since when have I ever cared about that?

Isshiki, being the one I'm searching for, is receiving strange looks from her peers. She, it seems, does not take the attention well, much to my confusion. Isn't it in every kouhai's dream to be noticed by their senpai? Directing her face to me, she shoots me an expression which is a mixture between irritation and embarrassment.

But to my pleasure, she's making her way towards me now, albeit while hiding her face. Once we're within talking distance, she pushes me out of the classroom, away from her peers' presence.

"Se~npai!" she hisses, her hands gripping on my shirt with a not too strong grip. "What were you thinking calling me out like that! Didn't you realize how embarrassing it was? Have you no shame yourself, senpai!?"

Her expression reminds me of Dog, my cat, whenever I'd try to give him a belly rub. Which was a sad thing, since he's a cat, not a dog and cats don't like belly rubs as much as dogs do. Let's just hope that Isshiki doesn't scratch me like Dog would.

"Shame? What's that? Can I eat it?"

"Seeeeenpaaaaiiiii... that's not funny senpai, moou." she sighs, deflated over the fact that she's just lost to an argument with the awesome Uzumaki Naruto. "Anyway, what do you need? Is this about the club?"

A smirk is formed on my face by stretching the corner of my lips. "No, it's something even more important."

"Something even more important?" next thing I know, she's already gasping. "Don't tell me, you hook me up with Hayama-senpai?!"

"Wow, so that's your true colors huh?" I said, blinking, in a very deadpan voice. "But no, this is something more. More than stupid puppy love for Hayama."

"Then what is it, senpai? Just tell me already." Tch, this little kouhai of mine knows no patience. Very well, I'll just tell her then.

"You, Isshiki Iroha, my _adowable_ little kouhai-" I ignore the painful look she's making. "-are going to spend time bonding with me, your reliable and dependable senpai." I flash her a confident grin, which I'm sure will make me look all the more reliable and dependable.

"..."

"..." wink, wink. Nudge, nudge.

"...senpai..." she starts speaking slowly. "Are you an idiot?"

She said it!

"No, of course I'm not." I outright denied her claim on my mental state. "I'm pretty sure I was treated roughly when I was a baby, but I'm no idiot."

"Uwaaaah..." her expression is slowly morphing into the face of someone who's just seen the most pathetic being in the world, which is safe to say – she's very disgusted at me.

"No, but seriously, Isshiki, let's hang out, mmkay?" I tilt my head, smiling widely.

I hear her sigh and then her incoherently muttering things under hear breath. "Okay, fine." her shoulders sag a little bit and the cute face she so desperately needs to show is, for once, not present. "Where and when should we meet up?"

I look at her weird. "Huh, what are you talking about? We're gonna do it now!"

"N-Now?"

"Yeah, right now!" I confirm. "What better place there is other than the school for a senpai and kouhai bonding moment?" stepping forward, I walk behind her so that I can push her by the shoulders. "Let's go, we're gonna miss the swim team's practice exercise!"

"W-Wait, senpai, the swim team?!"

* * *

I can't believe I dragged Isshiki to join me into peeping on the swim team.

"I can't believe you dragged me to join you into peeping on the swim team!"

"Sssh!" I shove a finger on her lip, silencing her. "Not too loud, they'll hear us."

In a very strategic location – a bush a few meters away from the swimming pool – we have an adequate view of the girls practicing in their swimsuits. Isshiki is with me, as for her role, well, let's just let her explain it herself.

"Moou... so I'm supposed to act as your alibi in case you get spotted by the team captain, is that it, Senpai?" Aw, wipe that frown off your face or turn in upside down, Isshiki.

"Basically, yeah." They won't believe shit if the words come from my mouth, but if it's from someone like Isshiki, they'll have to consider it first. "And, before you accuse me again Isshiki, no, I am not peeping."

"Oh then what are you doing?" she says in a flat tone.

"I am doing productive research for my upcoming book." I have to put more emphasis on the word 'research'. "It's not my fault that the plot calls for a beach arc."

"Uh huh... wait, THAT'S BASICALLY YOUR FAULT YOU PERVERT SENPAI!"

"Sssh! And no, it's not, it just sort of happen in the story writing process."

Yeah, now you know why there are obligatory beach episodes in anime.

"Anyway, why don't you start thinking on what you should be doing when you become student council president later." In the midst of jotting down notes – characteristics of the girls swimming, forms of swimming etc – I remind Isshiki casually.

"Wait, what?" not too loud, girl. "You're supposed to help me _not_ become student council president! Not the other way around!"

Taking a moment off my writing, I give her a sneer. "Ehe, well, look at it like this, sugar plumps, if Hayama Hayato himself isn't willing to become student council president, then there's scat we could do to help you. Look, it would've been better if you had one or two other people going against you in the election, but it seems that lady luck decided to drop her metaphorical but undeniably fat ass on top of you and shit on your incapacitated and unmoving body whilst ignoring your pleas."

…

"W...Whoa... that was... mean." her face scrunches into disgust. "And disgusting." before it falls back to shock and dumbfoundedness. "But mean..."

I know that it's mean, yes, you can call me an ass for it. But there's no way we – the service club – can do anything about it without doing anything drastic. I proposed blackmail potential candidates earlier to those two, but it got shot down faster than Japanese planes during the Great Marianas Turkey Shoot. And at that point, I couldn't think of anything else tamer than that!

"So... that's it, huh, senpai? You're just gonna give up on me?"

My hand stops what it is doing as soon as I hear that question come out of Isshiki's mouth.

"...n... ay."

"What was that, senpai?"

"I said, no way." my voice comes out a little bit firmer than I like. "I'm not giving up on you, Isshiki. I'm just... compromising and, hopefully, you'll see the reason why."

"Hah?" she just gives me a confused expression. "What do you mean?"

I close my notepad shut, pocketing it and the pen back into my blazer's pocket. "Let's relocate, this place won't do as a counseling room." I say, eager to get out of here before getting spotted by the women's swim team.

...well, I say that but-

"Hey! There's a creeper hiding in the bushes over there!"

"Eeeh?! Where?!"

"Kyaaa! Pervert!"

"There're two of them!"

Oh shit.

"Lets get away from here before those H2hoes catch up to us." Last time I checked, the swim team captain was the little sister of the kendo club captain...

We ditch the bush, running away at top speed before those land-built mermaids can catch up to us. Isshiki's having a hard time catching up to me, but it's surprising to see that she can run this fast. Looks like that position as the soccer club's manager is not just for show, huh?

"So much for me being an alibi, senpai!"

"Hey, that rhymes!"

"Mooou!"

We did a lot of running. Mostly Isshiki, but we ran a lot.

Now, we are in the library. I have a picture book with me containing the various species of mammals and every information that I need to know about them. I picked it randomly, so, yeah. Isshiki, on the other hand, picked up a book about sewing and arts and craft and things like that.

"So... what do you have to say now?" I can tell that she's tired, both in the physical and the mental sense. Physically since I just made her run all the way from the pool area to the library and mentally because she cannot comprehend the greatness which is me, Uzumaki Naruto.

Opening the book, I flip through the many pages, landing on one that features a Platypus. Wait, I thought Platypuses were birds. Like, a duck?

"Despite what it may sound like, we're not giving up on you, Isshiki." I do not make my pause too long. "It's just that, there are no ways to come up with a solution without coming to drastic measures."

"How drastic?"

"I proposed blackmails on potential candidates." I shrug. "Preferably to the ones who nominated you."

"Whoa." she's making a conflicted expression now. "That's certainly not a bad idea... but I can see why it was rejected." she becomes very quiet. "It is rejected, right senpai?"

"Yeah..."

"...dammit." see! Even Isshiki knows that it's necessary, why can't you agree with me this time, Yukinoshita! "Anyway... is there really no other choice?"

"Well, I can at least think of twenty other ways that can undo your nomination, but those will come at the price of others being severely embarrassed to a point where they'd wish they can not come to school again ooooor... well, it may affect your own reputation down the line."

My kouhai is impersonating Yukinoshita when I've just said something stupid. Pinching the bridge of her nose, Isshiki says out slowly, "Senpai... can you at least tell me one of those ways?"

"Well, I was thinking we'd plant illegal drugs in their loc-"

"Okay, okay!" she interrupts me quickly. "That's... enough." next thing, she's giving me a scolding look. "Now I know why Yukinoshita-senpai and Yui-senpai wouldn't let you do things on your own..."

I shrug.

It seems that Isshiki's slowly coming to realize the futility of our efforts. She must be feeling pretty bummed out, having to be responsible over a responsibility she's no desire over and the fact that she's in it due to some circle jerk of friends going against her. It's like the weight of the world's on her shoulder or something like that.

"Haaah..." I can see why she'd sigh that long. "So much for trying to spend more time with Hayama-senpai then."

Oh.

Ooooh...

"Isshiki, I think you're not completely hopeless yet." from her dejected looking persona, I can see a little bit of shine gleaming through her eyes. She raises her head, prompting me to elaborate. "If it's Hayama's attention, then, you can use your newfound position as an advantage."

She's giving me the look Yui would make whenever we're doing algebra, just not as confused. "What do you mean, senpai?"

"Think about it like this." I start, leaning closer to explain my brilliant plan. "If Hayama's a nice guy, which he is, then he definitely can't leave his poor, clumsy and inexperienced kouhai alone to do all of the difficult work, right?"

I watch with major amusement as her face slowly morphs from complete confusion into one that of shocking realization, she even goes as far as to use her hand to cover her gaping mouth. The widening of her eyebrows prove to me that she will, obviously, like the idea that I will plant in her brain.

"Oh my god, senpai, could it be that you're actually smart?"

"I prefer the term clever." I grin. "Besides, who wouldn't want to see Hayama Hayato in a difficult position?"

"Oh senpai, I think you're being very bad." she says that, but I can see my grin being mirrored on her face.

"And you're one sly kouhai."

Let's see... does this book has an entry for sly foxes?

* * *

"I can't believe you made me stalk her for the past two days, Boss!"

"Shuddup. Now dispell, so that I can learn what you know."

"Sheesh... not even a thank you?"

"Saying thank you to yourself would be kinda weird, innit?"

"...you're right..." after grumbling one last curse about me... himself, ultimately, my clone dismissed himself, allowing memory feedback to do its work. And it kicked in almost immediately. A flood of memory surges through my brain, but since it's just one clone, it didn't really hurt as much as receiving feedback fro ten or fifteen clones at once.

So far... nothing drastic had been happening with Sagami. She's still hanging with her friend and it appeared as if she's back to the way she was before. Even when she's on her own, like on her way back home from school or when she's sitting by her computer working on her blog, it seemed like nothing's bad happening.

Stalking? No, what I did was not something as crass as that.

And if it helped, it was not me who did it, my _clone_ did.

I can't be too sure though... it's not like I-my _clone_ stalked her 24/7 all the time. And it's not like I know what was going on in her mind, I'm many things, but I'm no mind reader. Though there's really no way to measure Sagami's... mental state, I'll have to make sure that nothing goes out of the ordinary.

Sighing, I gaze at the outside sky from my apartment window. It's just gotten dark; I went home as soon as I finished club. Nothing much happened today, and I have yet to tell Yukinoshita and Yui that Isshiki chooses to stay as candidate for the student council president, guess I'll just have to do that tomorrow.

Now... gotta work on my book.

* * *

Have you ever felt like there's something missing in you but you just can't quite figure out what it is? Well, this feeling of... absence has been lingering in her head for the past few days. For the past few days, she's been feeling that something isn't quite right, but whatever it is, she doesn't know. To further make things even more strange, her friends were also acting a little bit weird and distant to her these past few days...

It's as if they've had a fight or something and just recently made up.

Sagami doesn't know... she's not even sure of what to feel aside from just coping with the feeling of emptiness. She's tried so hard to recall even the smallest fragment of memory, but she still can't do anything. It's probably just some sort of deja vu feeling that she's experienced before... just not the one she can recall. Probably.

"Hm?"

Inside the comfort of her room, Sagami is alone browsing the internet on her computer, mainly to update her blog and social media, but now, she's doing a little bit of research about this... unknown dilemma of hers.

"Memory loss...?" she says the words displayed as a link on the top of the web browser with disbelief. "That's just impossible. I don't think I've memory loss..." curious, she clicks the link. "Yeah, thought so, most of the cause are things like severe head trauma, stroke and old age..."

Nothing like those have ever happened to her. And, well, she's still in high school, so that negates the old age part. She does more research, consuming ten to twenty minutes worth of her time before she decides that looking for things in the internet is not very helpful.

Leaning on the articulated back rest of her chair, Sagami groans to herself, frustrated. She can just ignore it, whatever this feeling of absence it, but that's exactly it; she can't ignore it. It's not like your normal case of deja vu or anything like that...

Those kind of things don't make your chest hurts and spontaneously cry, after all.

She's been feeling miserable, very miserable. It takes her a lot of effort to not show it to her friend, but she's been very emotionally unstable to a point where she'll feel real aching on her chest and cry out spontaneously. Is it normal? Heck no.

"..." She wipes her eyes, feeling the familiar sensation of warm wetness cascading down her face. Then, the chest pain starts to kick in, causing her to hunch over forward, clutching it tight to bear with the sensation.

"It hurts... It hurts...!" she whimpers, her voice quivering with much emotion. "Why... why does it hurts...?"

Aside from the pain and tears... why does she feel like bawling her eyes out whenever she sees tall, blonde males?

* * *

"So... Isshiki-san decides to become student council president anyway?"

Inside our club room – it's lunch time – Yukinoshita and Yui are still processing the news I've just brought to them. Holding my katsu sandwich with one arm, I give my club president a solid nod.

"It took a lot of convincing but... she decided that it was for the best." I say. Don't really want to make it too solemn... "Besides, it's not like we're able to come up with a proper replacement candidate for Isshiki without doing some... eh... drastic measures."

Yukinoshita sighs. Something tells me that my reason won't please her just yet. "This is sudden. But you are right, we would not be able to come up with another candidate in the first place to replace Isshiki-san's position or go against her in the election." her look borderlines suspicion. "But tell me, Uzumaki-kun, how did you convince her?"

"Yeah, Maki, how did you convince Iroha-chan?" Yui sides with her female friend, but I'm sure that she's just curious. "Iroha-chan doesn't seem like the type to take a responsibility that big... heck I know I won't!"

I roll my eyes. "Yeah, neither will I. Even Hayama didn't want to be student council president." I snort, before coughing, continuing with the explanation. "And as to how I managed to convince her... I highlighted the benefits of becoming a student council to her in a very convincing manner and from that point, I was no longer responsible for the choice she's made." I raise my hands, slowly backing my body away from the table.

"Eeeeh?!" Yui gasps in shock. "So you're just gonna leave her alone just like that? Even after planting all of those ideas in her mind? Talk about manipulative Maki! You tyrant!"

I glare at her. "Oi, I'm no tyrant." you pink haired bimbo you. Crossing my arms, I say, "And it's not like she's going to be doing it alone. She'll have her cabinet with her... er... student council members to help her with her duties."

Yukinoshita is giving me a less than amused look, one that is definitely disappointment. "Still, you are indirectly responsible for Isshiki-san's decision, Uzumaki-kun. You might have not made choose to become student council president, but you coerced her into making the decision." Ugh. "It would be very inappropriate and trashy of you if you don't at least take responsibility for your actions."

I raise my hands again, this time wiggling them lightly. "Alright, fiiiiine." I make sure to drag out the last word. "Peace, peace, no need to gang up on me now." They don't look convinced. "Ugh, I should have let you guys in on the idea too so that we'll all share the burden..."

"Hmph, just goes to show your thought process, huh?"

...ouch.

After making that snide but hurtful remark, Yukinoshita resumes the conversation. "So, how are you going to take responsibility?" Her question also leaves Yui curious, now the both of them are awaiting my answer.

Scratching my chin, I begin thinking. I don't think there's anything left to be thought of when it comes to 'taking responsibility'. I'll have to help her with her position, do some work for her and make sure that she doesn't end up a tyrant.

"I'll help her with her position, do some work for her and make sure that she doesn't end up a dictator like our club president over here." I see the corner of Ice Queen's eyes twitching in irritation. "Yup, I think I can do that."

Yukinoshita's about to speak, but Yui beats her to the punch. "Ah, but, if there's anything that we can help with; please don't hesitate and tell us, okay Maki?"

I return Yui's smile with one of my own. "Of course. I can always count on you guys."

"O-Oh... yeah." she sinks down, turning red on the face. How cute.

"As expected of you Uzumaki-kun, wasting no time shirking your newfound responsibilities. How trashy of you, Uzumatrashy-kun." This girl, however, is so not cute.

"Oi, that doesn't even come close to my name." I point a righteous finger at the black haired beauty, my irritation increases when I see her smug smile forming. "Yukinoshitty-san."

Her smug look transforms into that of a cornered cat. "Two faced cat man."

Did she just...? "Cold hearted Ice Bitch."

"Third quadrant brained ruffian." she snorts. "I don't expect you to be smart enough to figure that one out."

"Hah! Shame on you, I passed geometry, you flat chested popsicle!"

"Keep your opinions to yourself, pervert."

"Spoiled brat."

"Shameless brute."

"Miss I'm-too-good-for-school."

"That is not an insult."

"Well, it is now." End of argument.

"Mooou..." Yui's whine is loud enough to make both me and Yukinoshita turn back from our banter. "Be nice you two, we don't wanna set a bad example to Iroha-chan as her senpais..."

Yukinoshita rolled her eyes with sass and arrogant snide. "Too bad that Uzumaki-kun has failed in doing exactly just that."

"Oi, at least I won't be crushing Isshiki's expectation of a good senpai." I scoff, crossing my arms. "Anyway, now that I've told you guys that, I guess I better get going huh?"

"Huh?" Yui wonders out loud. "Where are you going? It's still lunch."

I raise my hand, giving her an apologetic look. It's some sort of habit for the two of us to return back to class together, that way we each have an alibi if we ever return late.

"I owe Hiratsuka-sensei a school work, gotta get her to grade my papers." as soon as I state my reason, the look on Yui's face relaxes almost immediately. I can sense Yukinoshita's eyes off me too. Weird girl. "So, and since we're having English for next period, please tell the teacher that I'll be late... just in case of Hiratsuka-sensei needs me for something extra."

"My, how suspicious." and she just has to start her trap. "A teacher and student spending time together during lunch period, having an entire counseling room all to themselves." I can see the dark gleam in her eyes and if you add her sneer to it, it's not very noble. "Whatever might you two do, huh?"

I roll my eyes, walking towards Yukinoshita, just so that I can plant my palm on her head, much to her protest. "It's nothing like that you cold hearted kinky girl." I ruffle her hair, making a mess of it, just to piss her off even more. "Student teacher relationship isn't exactly the kind of thing that people would find admirable in real life."

I let go of my hand on her head, quickly, to avoid her swiping hand.

"But the same can't be said after graduation though..."

"Huh?" that's from the both of them, Yui and Yukinoshita.

I look at them weird. "What? It is true. Once I've graduated from school, it won't be that strange to date Hiratsuka-sensei. It's legal and, believe or not, fairly common in today's standard."

My confusion increases when I see Yui's bottom lip quivering and Yukinoshita making an expression as if she's regretted saying something. What, what did I say wrong?

"A-Ah, but, there's really no telling if my feelings – if they're even there in the first place – will change after graduation." Though I say this, it's only to assure them that I won't end up dating their precious and dependable sensei. "Two years is a long time, after all." For Hiratsuka-sensei, at least, not for me.

"O-Oh." like always, it's Yui who's the first to regain her thoughts after things like this. Just goes to show much thought she's putting into it in the first place. That's not an insult, by the way. "T-Then... what would you do i-if you ever... s-say, receive a confession from so-someone close to you?"

For some reason, Yukinoshita's head snaps towards Yui, her face matching the pink haired girl's hair. I ignore the reaction, seeing as it may not be something important. Humming, I answer her, "Honestly, at this time, I'm not looking for anything like that." I say with a small tone. "But after a conversation with Komachi... I'm beginning to consider the need of... eh... a more _intimate_ company in my life."

As soon as I say that, their faces' expression switch over to an army cadet giving their NCO their undivided attention, with them being those cadets and me the NCO. A gleam forms in their eyes, causing tingling sensation down my spine. I haven't felt anything like this since... seeing Haruno-san looking at me.

Oh God, what did I say now?

I-I can't really describe it but if I have to, I suppose there's this feeling of... hunger in them? Like, they're eyeing me as if I'm that last piece of cookie in the jar that has been split among a group of toddlers. Frankly, it's just unsettling.

"A-Anyway!" I need to direct the conversation elsewhere. A retreat. "I need to go now, look at the time, Hiratsuka-sensei will be so pissed at me for arriving late!" as I'm saying this, I slink my way over the door, eager to make a retreat. "Yui, don't forget to tell the teacher!"

With that, I flee the room, hallway and floor altogether.

Inside, the two girls have finally regain themselves to a point where they can speak. It's the pink haired girl who manages to open her mouth first.

"Yukinon?"

"Yes Yuigahama-san?"

"...we need to plan better."

"Yes, indeed..."

* * *

"Pheeew... today was strangely a tiring day..."

Class is over and since the school need to do their monthly inspection, there's no club activity, which is great since I don't think I want to be anywhere near those two after today's behavior. Again, like always, I'm making my way towards the bike stands by my lonesome. It's not too bad, you don't have a big breasted girl dragging you to walk faster and a black haired princess insulting you with every step you take, so it's kinda nice.

"Seeeeenpaaaaaiiii~!"

...oh for the love of Jesus, Mary and Joseph. Turning around my heels, I greet the incoming missile that is my kouhai.

"What is it IsshikiiiIIIIIIIIIIIIII!" She slammed face first to chest, her arms tackling my sides, causing me to collide with the aluminum lockers behind me, as well as causing the attention of everyone present at the entrance.

As soon as she collides with me, she lets go of me again. She looks up to me, her eyes puppy-like with tears escaping. Oh God, she's not even President yet and she already screwed up?

Who are you, Trump?

"Seeenpaaaai! Listen to this!" She's clutching the hem of my uniform tightly, dragging the material.

"Calm down Isshiki." I groan as I lift myself from the lockers. "I swear, you girls are like Navi but more annoying and actually real..."

"That's rude, but anyway, listen to this!" Oh, she plays Zelda? "Those inspection people-"

"Inspectors, Isshiki."

"-yeah, whatever, they're gonna go and take a look at the storage shed!" She's speaking so fast I can't tell whether she's rapping or talking.

"Aaand, what's wrong with that?" Honestly though girl, you need to lower your voice. I don't wanna be accused of making a girl cry... again. "It's their job."

"But seeenpaaai~!" This time, she's lowering her volume, causing her to sound like she's hissing. "I store all of the pictures of Hayama-senpai that I secretly took in theeeeeere~!"

"You WHAT?!"

"Uwaaah... he's scolding that poor girl..."

"So scary... he's a kouhai scolding delinquent yankee."

I reacted to that. "Oi! Whoever you are, you're dead!" our crown flees, either exiting the school or getting back inside. "Anyway, Isshiki, what the hell? What's wrong with you? You're not a yandere stalker from an 80's Japanese thriller movie are you?"

"Eh... no?"

"Bullshit." I have to blunt there. "But why there? Why physical copies? You're a Millenial, Isshiki, your generations are supposed to be keeping their porn and illicit fap material in digital storage! What went wrong?!"

"You're the one who's wrong, senpai!" she sniffs loudly, wiping away the tears smudged around her eyes. "Besides, all three storage drives in my laptop are full already, and I'm still saving for a good external hard drive!"

"THERE'S THESE THINGS CALLED USB STICKS!"

"Well, those aren't enough." she deadpans.

"HOW MUCH STORAGE SPACE DO YOU NEED WOMAN?!"

"A~ny~wa~y!" she grabs my arm without my consent or whatever, already dragging me off towards the direction of the sports field outside. "Let's go now, before it's too late!"

"What, no way, I don't wanna be a part of your stalking business!"

"...something tells me that you're the last person I want to hear that from, senpai."

She she drags me all the way to the sports field anyway, or to be specific, the storage shed located near the field. As Isshiki has said, there are inspectors from the government roaming around escorted by teachers, is this why Hiratsuka-sensei had to cut our meeting short? She still hasn't graded my paper, that woman...

The sky's already telling us that it's evening, meaning that good students are supposed to go home for the day and not spend time loitering around where they're not supposed to be. So that'd make me and Isshiki bad students, huh? But I can't help it, I got dragged into this.

"It's in there senpai, inside the fourth jumping block, just open it and get the box which is filled with Hayama-senpai's picture and get out of there." She instructs me in a Major Zero-esque fashion.

"Oh yeah, and what are you gonna do?"

"Oh, I'm staying here as over watch."

...this girl... "Fine but make sure you really watch my back, okay?" it shouldn't be too hard getting the pictures and get out of there.

"Okay senpai, your cute little kouhai won't let you down!"

I grumble whilst making my way towards the storage shed. Once inside, I begin to survey the content of this decrepit looking area. It's dusty and devoid of clean air, this is the very definition of a storage area right here. So, anyway, jumping blocks, the fourth one...

"Aha, there they are." This shouldn't be too hard. I begin my work, choosing the fourth jumping block. Crouching down, I use both of my hands to lift the upper section off the bottom one. These things are designed like this for easier storage, but for some reason, they're not stored in the manner they're supposed to.

"Huh, there's nothing here!" Oh come on... "Don't tell me that girl gave me the wrong order..." If it's like this, I'll just have to check each and everyone of them. And that's what I'm going to do.

Nope, the first one is a no no... the second one too... oh, third time's the charm it seems.

"There it is." It is indeed a box, just like Isshiki has said. Picking it up, I notice that it has a certain weight into it. "Oh God, this thing is heavy, just how many pictures did that lunatic take?"

Okay, now that I've retrieved the objective, I'll need to make my exfil. Walking outside the storage shed, I make quick peeks, making sure that the coast is clear. From the distance, I can see Isshiki giving me thumbs up while making silent cheers. Hm? Why are you pointing at me, Isshiki? And why are you turning your head?

At that point... I really need to consider whether I'm retarded or not.

"Uzumaki? What are you doing out here? I thought you left earlier?"

It's Hiratsuka-sensei with a team of those inspectors from before. She's wearing her lab coat, standing while giving me weird looks. Then, she notices the box I'm carrying.

"Oh, what's that?"

"T-This?!" my voice comes out like the voice of someone that has just consumed too much helium. "It's... uh... a package! Yeah! A package that an underclassman gave to me before!"

"A package eh?" her eyes turn devious. She makes slinky steps, walking towards me with less than noble intentions. "Is it from a girl?"

My look falters. I send Iroha a quick loo-SHE'S NOT THERE! THAT LITTLE SLINK DITCHED ME!

"Y-Yeah, it is, so it's kinda private." I hold the chest close to my chest, chuckling. I try so hard to not look suspicious, but since this is a box filled with Hayama's picture I'm carrying, I am very, very nervous.

"Heeeh... so it's that time of the year, huh?" she sighs like an old timer from an 80's detective movie. "Kids these days... they're active in the wrong side of the spectrum."

Miss Pot, meet me, Kettle.

"Anyway, hm? Oh, you dropped something?"

Feeling underneath the box, I can feel a large wide tear. So what slipped was...

SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIITTTT!

"Here... you... go..." her voice gets smaller with each words, mouth closing slower. "Oh."

"No, Hiratsuka-sensei, I can explain." listen to me woman!

"Oh." she opens her mouth again. _"Oh."_

"Dammit, I can explain!"

She quickly shoves the picture to my chest, pushing me back a little bit. "I-It's okay, Uzumaki. I-I won't judge you for your preference."

"Listen to me first, this is a huge misunderstanding!" I look around. ISSHIKI WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?!

"N-No, i-it's okay." her voice sounds like it's quivering. She lowers her head, hiding her expression from me. "T-The world is becoming more and more tolerant of those things s-so, you don't have to worry!"

"Sensei, you're-"

"I'll support you Uzumaki!"

She turns fast on her heels, before making a beeline for the school. As she runs, I can see tiny droplet of tears gleaming underneath the sun.

…

…

What have I done? What have you done, Isshiki?

As I stand there frozen from both the shock and the aftermath of the misunderstanding, a guy from the inspection division approaches me, looking confused.

"Hey, um, kid, do you know where the gym is?"

I can't answer him. My knees collapse on their own, causing me to drop the box I'm holding.

"Hey, uh, kid? You okay?"

Is this the price I'm paying for my past mistakes?

...let's just hope that I have a redemption song up my belt.

* * *

 **Surprise quick update!**

 **So, yeah, it's a pretty quick update from me. Yay.**

 **Eh... I'll go now, there really isn't much to say.**

 **Bye.**


	23. Avec Moi

**You guys really liked the previous chapter. That's good to know.**

 **Good... good...**

* * *

"Oi, Zaimokuza..."

"What is it, my esteemed compadre?"

"No, don't call me that."

Seriously, _ew_.

"Anyway, have you ever felt like you've just swam through lady luck's bullshit to a point where it's both funny and sad at the same time?"

You know shit got real when I started asking Zaimokuza for counseling.

"Umu, umu..." The trench coat wearing lardo began stroking his non-existent beard in a manner that I found incredibly retarded. "It seems that a great tragedy has befall upon you, my friend. But to answer your question, of course!" he got passionate all of a sudden. "As someone who has been destined to walk through the journey of life alone, there have been countless times when I felt like I was shouldering something far heavier than the stars themselves!"

He had his hand outstretched, pointing towards the school's library roof. On his face was an expression that spoke nothing short of his confidence and determination, fixed into place by a metaphorical nail and hammer.

"So, in other words, you've had worst than I ever had in my current high school life?"

He suddenly cried.

There, there buddy.

I forgot that we're supposed to be discussing about something important here, otherwise, why in the name of god would I associate myself with this person? And, yes, the topic is about the student council president election.

Isshiki, while being the only one currently nominated for student council president position, wasn't guaranteed a win just yet. Of course, by 'win' I mean in the other sense. If she became student council president because she's the only one who got nominated for the position, it'd make her look lamer than an uncle who's wearing the taboo Crocs and Socks combo.

Nah, maybe less lame.

In any case, Isshiki would need to win the election by putting at least a little bit of effort. But seeing as there's not much time until the... eh, I guessed they're skipping the election process unless there's another candidate, so that meant they'll probably proceed directly with the announcement if Isshiki's still the only candidate. So, yes, the announcement of Isshiki's inevitable 'victory' was coming soon – in just a week in fact – and we didn't have to waste time by having Isshiki campaign to gain the people's support.

It's not like they'd care in the first place, I mean, wasn't that the case in real life elections too? Me personally, I didn't vote when elections happened, because I thought that there's no need for me to be involved in things like that.

Anyway, we just needed to make sure that Isshiki got more 'votes' from the students, that way, it'll make her victory even more irrefutable. And, to that, we need to rig the system.

Yes, just as the case with real life elections out there, even a place like school wasn't exempted from the cruel and harsh fact that ours was a fucked system.

To make this whole deal work out, I'd need Zaimokuza's expertise. Why? Let's just say that he's more technologically inclined than me.

"Back to business, Zaimokuza, there's a reason why I called you here." His attention snapped back to me, reminding me of the ninja cadets from back then. "Make yourself available tonight and wait for my call. You're going to help me make sure that my cute kouhai got her... well, I wouldn't call it rightful, but let's just say that she could use the lessons to be learned from becoming student council president."

"Of course, comrade." I nodded, pleased at his eagerness. "But what are you going to do? Even though the overlords of this school are slightly lenient when it comes to this matter, bypassing their regulations would not be as easy as one might think."

I agreed by nodding my head once again, tapping my knuckles on the table I'm resting my upper body on. "For that, let me worry about it. I'm anything if not convincing." I chuckled.

Manipulating multitudes of people wasn't as hard as it seemed. All people share at least one common trait or characteristic that would contribute to how they would react when presented with one large information. Though there existed a few out there, I'll just use the very common form of shared characteristic in all human beings.

Attraction.

All humans are and will find attractive looking people more... appealing at first glance. Without having previous knowledge of the person's personality, though this didn't necessarily apply for all people, there's a very high chance that they'd find the more attractive looking person more likable than your average Joe.

In my pocket was a list with a few names written on it.

On the very top was Hayama Hayato's name, followed by Miura Yumiko's, so on and so forth. See where I'm getting at?

They say looks could be deceiving. And while that's very true, looks could also be far more sinister. They're not only deceiving, but they could also be use for deception itself.

There's this one quote said by the author of the famous historical book called The Art of War. 'Modern warfare is based on deception.' That is true and as a former shinobi, I could not agree any less with that statement. It might sound dishonorable, but I was a ninja, what could I say?

Zaimokuza's going to have his first taste of battle, but he won't be doing it for Samurai-like honor. He would march alongside the agents of death themselves, fighting where the battle was rigged and set to his advantage; carefully thought out with less than noble intentions in mind. He would find himself fighting like a shinobi, from the shadows – or at least his bedroom with the lights turned off.

Besides, only a fool would deny easy victory.

And just to motivate him...

"You will be given a very important task to complete, alone, in the dead of night." My 'Shinobi Voice' leaked out, grabbing Zaimokuza's undivided attention.

"From your hands alone, you will bestow upon your Lord the most ultimate form of victory; one where your there'll be nothing left of your Lord's enemies." Lord here is Isshiki, by the way.

I leaned forward, dragging my body up to stand. A mask of stoicism and indifference covered my face. "Defeat is not an option. There will only be two ways out; death and success. Wielding your blade (read: mouse and keyboard) in your right hand, dagger (read: phone) in your left and the Will of Fire (read: nudes) as your guide; victory is just over dawn's horizon."

I placed my right fist over my heart, uttering the final words.

"For the glory of Iroha."

Zaimokuza squealed. In glee. Hard.

I might have just acted like a total chuuni, but who cares? As long as it motivated the guy.

* * *

"Hey, you."

"W-Who? M-Me?"

"Yeah, you, _girly_." Totally didn't sound like a sexual predator there, me.

I could literally hear her swallowing air before taking a step backwards, pinning her back on the lockers. The smile I had on me was, definitely, making her even more nervous, but that's given. I'm making the same face that I'd make before someone spontaneously combust, so it's understandable why she'd be nervous.

"You have some nerve showing your face back in school after that stunt you pulled the other day, girl." I made sure to channel my inner Uchiha when I said that. I saw her legs shivering. It worked! "Now, what do you have to say for yourself?"

I've made sure that nobody's around while I... 'interrogate' Isshiki. I caught her at the perfect time. Class's in session and I had to pull the sick card to get my Biology teacher's permission to exit class. Of course, this was only possible because I sensed her presence beforehand.

"U-Uh... s-s-senpai, I-I can explain!" she stammered like a girlfriend that had been caught sleeping with another man

"You better." I sneered. "Otherwise, I'll... I'll... uh..." Think, think, what could I do to scare her... "Aha." I got it.

"Or else I'll eat your panties."

…

…

…

"MOLESTE-MMMMPPPH!"

"Oi! Shut up!" I hissed, quickly covering her mouth before she could finish what she was shouting before. "I was joking, joking!"

"Mmmmphh!" I let go of her mouth. "Puah! G-Get away from me!"

"Oi, listen to me." I said, this time she listened, body tensing from the tone of my voice. "I wasn't going to eat your panties, only a creep would do that."

She stared at me.

"...I can feel the high levels of insult from that look of yours..." this girl, if only she'd let me explain. "So, you know why I'm here."

She nodded her head slowly, confirming my question. Well, it was more of a statement really. "Good." I said with a chirp tone. "Now, tell me, why did you ditch me yesterday by my lonesome, huh?"

"I-I... uh... y-you see..."

"Go on." I beckoned her to continue speaking.

She took a deep breath, before releasing it out. "When you were inside the storage shed, one of those inspection people-

"Inspectors."

"-yeah, whatever, asked me if I know where the faculty office is. B-But I panicked, thinking that you'd been caught or something. S-So, I quickly guide him to the office!" She's trying really hard to explain this to me. "It wasn't my intention to leave you behind, honest!"

Staring at her for a few more seconds, I finally made my judgement. Isshiki made a sound argument. She panicked and I couldn't blame her for leaving me behind. Getting mad at her or actually eating her panties would make me some sub form of degenerate that didn't deserve to live within the ranks of society.

Sighing, my shoulders drooped slightly. "That's nice to know." I can see her expression showing how relieved she was. "But, Isshiki, the least you could do was approach me and tell me first things first in the morning."

"W-Well..." her gaze fell to the floor below, as she began to fidget and move on her spot, arms twiddling and eyes refusing to look at me anywhere near the face. "I-I was so scared that you'd get the wrong idea of me, senpai. S-So, yeah, I was kinda scared that you'd get mad at me or something like that..."

Ugh... now I feel bad for actually thinking that she'd left ditched me yesterday. "Uh... well, hm, I-I won't get mad. I've said it before, but, it'll take a lot of effort to make me mad. Like, banning ramen from ever being served anywhere Japan or something like that."

"Haah? That's plain impossible."

"I know." I nodded. "Anyway, the thing is, I'm not mad. I guess I'm... disappointed? Well, it's certainly not anger I'm feeling but I felt sad and worried that you'd pull a fast one on me after the help I've offered you."

"Senpai!" Isshiki's tone caught me by surprise. She looked at me with insulted eyes and a very pouty pair of lips. "Even I'm not that mean, you know? It'd take a real witch to pull something like that to the person who's offered someone help. Do I look like a witch, senpai?"

"...no." and that's what worries me.

"See?" she gestured, rolling her shoulders for effect. "It's all just a misunderstanding. I accidentally left senpai behind and you got mad at me for the wrong reason. It's a blunder. So, let's let bygones be bygones, ne, senpai?"

For moment, I compared her to Komachi. Where Komachi's manipulative in a sense that she'd use her title as my (un)related little sister to a point where it'd make a position of authority feel ashamed, Isshiki's doing all of it naturally. I just met this chick a few days ago and I could already feel myself being genuinely irritated and annoyed at the things she did. This didn't mean that she's pissing me off, but, it's the kind of feeling you'd get from a very nosy and annoying little sister who ALWAYS EATS YOUR PUDDING WITHOUT YOUR PERMISSION!

...god I'm pissed.

But, Isshiki did bring up a good point. It's all a misunderstanding. She didn't mean to leave me behind, and I got pointlessly mad at her for something she technically didn't mean doing. End of story.

"Fine, but you'll be talking to Hiratsuka-sensei after this or later."

"Huh, why?"

"Hiratsuka-sensei was crying after she busted me carrying your secret stash for some reason. I don't know why she's crying, but since you're the root of this whole mess, you're the one who needs to talk to her."

"Ugh... fine."

Senpai power is good power.

* * *

"Uh, excuse me, is this the underground student council's office?"

Four pair of eyes gave me weird looks. What, what did I say wrong? Then, in my dumbfounded state, I realized what I said. "Oh, I mean, is this the student council's office?"

They obviously didn't get the reference either.

The look they're giving me lessened, but that didn't mean that they're no longer looking at me. I mean, I couldn't blame them. I'm just very irresistible for their pleb eyes. Standing up, one of them acted as a representative to greet me.

"Ah, Uzumaki-kun, is there anything I could help you with?"

 _HNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNG!_

Megu-Megurin had captured my heart once again, how can these people sit and stay here without being charmed by her pure and sincere fluffiness?!

Though my interior was equivalent to that of putty, my exterior was as smooth and hard as rock. But I'm thiiiiiis close from breaking. Just saying. Megurin's marshmallow like presence had the capability of melting even the coldest of heart, it's a wonder how someone like her knew someone like Haruno.

I could feel the corner of my lip twitching when she approached to greet me with that comforting smile that's always on her face when we boys stalk her at the hallways.

"Hello Meguri-senpai, I'm here to talk about Isshiki." I didn't see any point beating around the bush, and it's not like I had time to waste either. "Is it okay if we talk here?"

"Hm? Isn't it better that we discuss this with Yui-chan and Yukino-san?" with her pointer poking the left corner of her lip, she tilted her head slight to the right.

Even though I came close to having a moe induced heart attack, I persisted and gave her a shake of my head. "No. Those two are doing something else." when they're not acting like total lesbians. "So, is it okay if we talk together?"

For some reason, I felt three pairs of eyes glaring at me at the same time as soon as those words left my mouth. It's the rest of the current student council members no doubt. Looks like someone's a little bit overprotective over Megurin.

Smiling with the radiance of a marshmallow sun, she nodded her head. "Sure! Let's do it here."

...control yourself, me. She meant talking, not something else.

"Okay." I shrugged.

The things I'd do to her... would range from one to ten.

They arranged a new set of tables and chair for me to sit on, now, I'm facing Meguri directly. I'm not complaining, I got to stare at her sweet face for the duration of our talk. But, yeah, the glares I'm getting weren't lessening at all. Crossing my arms on the table, I began the conversation.

"Well, there's been a major change of plan." I began, sounding as serious as I could.

"Ho?" she tilted her head sideways.

 _HNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN-_

"...i-it turns o-out..." Holy Log preserve me. "...Isshiki wanted to be president anyway." Somehow, I managed to explain that without glomping her face into my chest.

"That's great news!"

I know!

"This means that we could submit the paperwork to the staff office immediately." I hate to wipe that smile on her face, but...

"Not so fast there senpai." Hold your horses... "Yes, while it certainly seems that Isshiki's going to 'win' – and I used that term loosely – the election, I really don't think that she's exactly leader material... if you know what I mean."

Yes, even with her cuteness, Isshiki could only do so much.

"Muuu... you're right, but, there's really nothing that could be done about that isn't there?"

"Not really." My answer drew out a confused look from Meguri-senpai. "I... think that with your help, senpai, Isshiki will at least know the ropes."

"Oh." the first oh was always the smallest. "Oooh..." then the second one's the largest. "Okay." her smile made me smile too. Bless her heart. "I'll help Isshiki-san... but, Uzumaki-kun, what makes you so sure that Isshiki-san would win the election?"

I could feel my lips stretching to form a sly smirk. "That's for me to know and you to find out, senpai." I winked.

God, it's only been a couple of chapters and that fox is already rubbing on me in the bad kind of way. Not that I'm hoping for anything in the first place, mind you. Do sly foxes have an affinity towards good looking senpai's?

"Okay then." Looks like Meguri-senpai had agreed to help Isshiki, and ultimately us, with it. "I'll discuss things with Isshiki-san ourselves, so you and your club won't have to do anything more, Uzumaki-kun. I think that the Service Club has earned its rightful break from handling request for the moment."

Hearing that, the corner of my lips tugged upwards. "Sure, I really appreciate it, senpai."

She giggled to her hand before giving me a look with both of eyes wide open. "You're really hardworking aren't you, Uzumaki-kun?"

"I don't know if 'hardworking' is the correct term to use." I shrugged. "I prefer the term 'initiative before shit hits the fan'. Meaning that I'd rather do things now rather than later, where even more troublesome things will happen."

"If politicians these days have your work ethics..."

"No, don't. They wouldn't want it."

At that, Meguri-senpai laughed. And it was like the sound of angels to my ears.

* * *

"Sagami-chan, you're dozing off, you okay?"

"H-Huh?"

Her friend's worried and concern filled voice snapped her out of whatever daydream she was having. However, it the feeling mysterious emptiness and unknown gap inside of her made it feel more like a nightmare rather than a dream.

Her lunch was half eaten, as she barely went through the contents. The rice was going cold, and the same was true for the side dishes. The classroom of 2-F was filled with the usual volume of chattering and noise, one that she had unknowingly tuned out in the midst of her... disconnection from reality.

"Are you really okay, Sagami-chan?" Ayano's voice could not be mistaken as anything else. She was very worried for her friend. This kind of behavior had been observed not only from her, but her other friends as well. "Should we go see the nurse?"

"What? No!" Sagami laughed, albeit forced. "There's no need for something like that, I'm fine."

But the look on the glasses wearing girl's face did not change. She shook her head, not buying her friend's reason this time. "It's been days ever since you started acting like this. What's wrong? I'm your friend right, Sagami-chan?" she set aside her lunch, giving Sagami her undivided attention. "You can tell me what's wrong, you know."

Crap... was what went through Sagami's head. She hated being treated like she's some sort of fragile decoration, at least now she was. But at the same time, she's also unsure of what to tell her friend. What, was she supposed to go and say that she might have suffered from something as silly and absurd as memory loss?

Heck, she's not even sure if it's memory loss in the first place.

Depression? Well, it's certainly closer with all the random crying and 'heart aches' she's felt. The thing was, she didn't want to come out as someone who's... crazy or emotionally heavy to Ayano, simply put, she didn't want to trouble her friend on something she's not even sure of in the first place.

All this thinking made Sagami's face as clear as day. Ayano could both sense and see that her friend's currently in the middle of thinking. Whatever it was, she still needed to know, regardless.

"Please, Sagami-chan." Her voice came out in a pleading manner. "I'm worried about you."

Ayano was one of the people who went along with everything that Sagami would say, even if it's something as mean as hiding another girl's book or downright cruel as putting said book in the trash can. They've gone through hardships and good times together. She trusted her, in a way, even more than the rest of her... 'gang'.

Pursing her lips, Sagami hesitated, but a few seconds later, she sighed.

"It's just... I've been having these random recollection." Sagami started speaking. The words came out heavy, almost as if she's unsure whether sharing them was a good idea. "B-But the weird thing is... I don't know why or how I'm having these... memories, if you could call it."

"Memories... huh?" Ayano muttered, repeating after Sagami's choice of words. "Well, who do you think these 'memories' belong to?"

Sagami was grateful that Ayano didn't dismiss her confession as something stupid. The purple haired girl shook her head, her shoulders visibly sagging lower as she too set aside her lunch.

"I... I don't know, that's the darn thing." She bit on her lower lip. "A-And I said memories, but, I can't really figure out heads or tail on what's happening. All... that I felt was... this unbearable and aching pain on my chest every time."

Ayano felt sorry for Sagami. From hearing the way Sagami's voice was close to breaking, she knew that this was no ordinary case of 'teenage angst'. She was never a firm believer of things like that in the first place. She believed that all people were capable of reasonably ruling over their emotions, hence preventing something as controversial as depression. While she had no doubts that depression do exist, it's just, with the way people had been using the term so freely; it made her hate the word.

She'd seen people in a state of depression before. And most of them share the same thing; loss. When her grandmother died, her mother wouldn't eat for two days, causing her to become so weak that they had to send her to the hospital. Or that time when her brother wouldn't step outside of his room after failing the university entrance exam. There's one thing in common with those two examples, and that was the lost of something important.

Her mother lost her mother and her brother lost his chance of entering his desired university.

So... logically speaking, it wouldn't be strange for Sagami to be experiencing the same thing, right?

"Just... tell me what you think feels right." Ayano said. "Even if it's crazy or absurd, just tell me."

"I... feel like..." Sagami's voice cracked. "...there's a huge hole in my chest. And... and... whenever I see guys like Hayama-kun it starts to hurt..."

"Guys like Hayama-kun..." Ayano parroted her friend's exact words. Ayano's eyes wandered to the rather loud clique occupying the the back right corner of the classroom.

Hayama Hayato was many things, and a heart breaker was one of them. He's a good looking guy, a nice one too... so it wouldn't be strange for Sagami to be interested in him. But... if _those_ rumors were true... why Hayama? Shouldn't it be...

"No, no... it don't add up..." Ayano muttered, eyes cast downwards. "It wasn't Hayama Hayato that Sagami-chan..." her voice trailed off, unheard to Sagami.

"What's wrong Aya?" Sagami asked, using the affectionate nickname for her friend.

Being caught lost in her own musings, Ayano did not take long to dismiss her friend's worry. "Ah, it's nothing, just... thinking." she used that last word not by choice. "Sagami-chan, I think that... for now... you need to avoid thinking about Hayama-kun." A grimace of hesitation formed on her face. "Or any other guys for that matter."

Sagami tilted her head slightly to the right. "Why?" her voice dripping with confusion.

"It's..." Where she hesitated before, she was struggling now. "Well, it might sound silly, but maybe you're having boy problems?" Ayano wiggled her eyebrows. "You know... maybe you're in the dumps because of a guy."

"Heeh...? Really?" Sagami didn't sound convinced. Maybe she's just in denial? "I... don't know..."

"Well, it's fine." Ayano sighed. "Lunch break's almost over, if you have any more emotional baggage that you need help with, come to me. I'll always be here." the bespectacled girl smiled to her purple haired friend.

"Thank you Aya-chan, you're the best."

"For my friend, I'll do what I can."

And she will.

* * *

"...truth is stranger than fiction... how much do you agree with that statement, Isshiki?"

"Hah, what are you talking about senpai? Just stop talking and help me with this thing already."

Way to ruin my moment there, you twerp.

The school, just like any other institution out there, needed staff members that would fulfill the position that maintains with public cleanliness and health. Often underestimated for their position, these staff members – widely known as janitors – were actually one of the foundations to a successful institution.

They maintain the environment's condition, tending to it when others would ignore. They keep the floors clean for everyone, bathroom from smelling like a post apocalyptic sewage system and basically everything in tip-top shape. Yet why was it that they receive discrimination even among their employer?

Was it due to the fact that out of all office related job positions, they're the ones that get paid the least? True, their salary might be lesser than a normal employee's, but just for that? Really? Especially in today's standard, where the power of money had far rivaled that of chakra's or anything chivalrous for that matter...

The thing is, what I wanted to say, I have a lot of respect for people working the service industry. Even though I have no intention of working there.

...kinda ironic considering the club I'm in now that I think about it.

"Ugh... aren't there janitors here, aren't they the ones supposed to do icky jobs like this? Why did Hiratsuka-sensei have to make us clean the storage shed anyway?" Both my ears and mind could hear Isshiki whine. The interior of the shed allows for her voice to echo, doubling in volume.

"Hey, respect." I scolded her as I placed down several boxes containing fitness material stacked on top each other. "Apologize to all the janitors in the world." You brat. "And we're here because of you in the first place."

"Mooou!" After dusting off the track team's jumping rails, a futile action if I might say so, Isshiki went to a fit. "I did as you say and apologized to Hiratsuka-sensei, instead, she gave us this as punishment!" Her face transformed briefly into that of wonder. "But she was very relieved when I told her that those photos were mine... for some reason..."

Excuse _me?_

" _Us?"_ I'm appalled young lady. "You came barging into my classroom in the middle of free studies in tears and begging for me to come help you clean this wasteland of a storage shed! Don't you dare make me look like I'm in the wrong here." I paused, before exploding again. "My classmates thought I did something to you!"

"Muu..." Pouting like that ain't gonna do anything. "You're so mean senpai." she smirked afterwards, pout disappearing completely from her face. "And serves you right."

This chick...

I sighed. "Anyway, you know why Hiratsuka-sensei seemed relieved when you told her the full reason?"

"I don't knoooow~" she shrugged, huh, guess I'll never know.

"Anyhow, are you done yet over there?"

"Yeah, I don't think there's anything else we could do to clean this any more... in fact, any more than this will be useless."

I had to agree with her there. Looks like we're done here. "Alright, you go out first, I'll lock the door."

"Hai, hai." She said to me lazily before hurrying out of the door.

After making sure that all cleaning tools were at their respective spots, I exited the shed, locking the doors before pocketing the key. If my life's a game, which it sadly wasn't, I'd have an inventory for me to access. Never mind that, it's time for me to return to class.

"So, what are you going to do now senpai?" Isshiki, after dusting her uniform clean of... well, dust, asked me.

"Well, I'm going back to class, duh." I told her, much to her annoyance. "I was planning to use free studies to work on my book, but then an annoying little kouhai of mine just had to drag me into something troublesome." I leveled her a glare, just to make sure she knew who I was referring to.

"Hey, hey, just let it go already will ya senpai?" Isshiki pouted, this time crossing her arms. "I said I was sorry to both you and Hiratsuka-sensei, wasn't that good enough?"

"...well, fine." I had to let this go anyway. "So, have you thought out how your first day in office is gonna be like?"

"Hah?"

"What do you mean, _'hah'_ you git?"

"Oh yeah, the student council election, right, right." she waved me off. "What about it?"

...Log preserve me...

"...you know, I'm starting to have second thoughts about letting you become student council president here..."

As we talk, we made our way inside the school building.

"Eh?!" she looked shocked, sound shocked too. "Why? Aren't you gonna set me up with Hayama-senp-I mean, make me student council president?!"

"...make that third thoughts." I muttered, slapping myself on my face once. "Look, here, Isshiki. Being student council president will give you huge amount of responsibilities."

"Hm... well, of course I know that senpai." She rolled her eyes. This brat. "Don't tell me that you're gonna preach it to me."

"I'll be uncle Ben if I have to, Isshiki." Especially when I'm the one who's made this whole thing possible in the first place.

"But, aren't you being too worried about this? With what you've in plan, I'll basically be student council president the day after they announce the results. So, what's the use worrying?"

"Aside from the fact that I'm basically treading questionable waters by having Zaimokuza set up those fake Twitter accounts, I don't want people to know that you're literally useless as student council president."

"Wow." Isshiki deadpanned. "You just said it now."

"Don't talk to me like that." I paused. "Anyhow, there's a good news to all of this, believe it or not." I saw her face motioning me to continue. "Megurin-"

Isshiki looked at me weird.

"I mean... _Shiromeguri-senpai_ has decided to show you the ropes of becoming student council president." I told her.

"Oh, that's good news I suppose."

"What? You're not happy?"

Isshiki hummed, sounded like she's hesitating. "Well... I have nothing against being mentored by Shiromeguri-senpai, buuuuuuut... isn't she, like, a pain?"

 _ **What. Did. You. Say?**_

"She's not really reliable, if you ask me. Like, there's this one time when she forgot that she had to attend the monthly club meetings, so, that's like totally counter productive don't you think?"

How dare you say that Megurin's a pain! She's an existent rivaling that of little sisters', soft, marshmallow-like and all around moe! How dare you call her a pain, you should be honored of being able to spend time privately with her! Being in the same room with Megurin... being able to smell her sweet, sweet and pleasant smelling scent...

 _Oh yeah..._

"Uuh... senpai, you're making a rather scary face there..."

"...sluuurp." I sucked back the drool that almost left my mouth. "So, you should go and meet up with her later after school. Just make sure you be patient and nice to her, okay?"

"Tceeeh... you're clearly favoring Meguri-senpai over me here." Crossing her arms, Isshiki pouted the heaviest of pouts that day.

Damn right I am.

* * *

"Maki!"

I picked my head up from my desk, feeling drowsy on the head.

"Ma-ew, you have drool on your face Maki." Yui reached into her blazer's compartment. "Hold on, here, let me get that for you."

"Stop, sto-" Argh, your napkin smells like strawberries! "-op, cut it out!"

"Mou, you're just like a cat when it's about to get cleaned, Maki." Don't speak to me as if I'm actual cat. "Yukinon would have a field day if she saw this."

I scoffed. "As if I'd let that she-devil see me like that." I coughed. "Anyway, what is it? Why did you interrupt my power nap?"

"Really, Maki?" She deadpanned. "Power nap? So sleeping through fourth period is a nap for you huh?"

"Don't act sarcastic with me."

"Anyway, it's time for club." Yui said with excitement in her voice. "I can't wait to see Yukinon, ehehe..."

I stood up, stretching my rested limbs. "It's not like you see her once a month, Yui. What is it with you two, huh? Have you two been going on dates behind my back, huh?"

"W-What?!" her face now shared the same color as her hair. "No! It's nothing like that! Besides, it's not like a date-date if we go out as friends!" So you two went out together anyway...

"Oho? Yukinoshita actually agreed on an outing with you? Are you sure it's the very same person we're talking about?" grabbing my bag, the two of us made our way to the club room. "What did you have to do? Bribe her with cat pictures?"

"Moou... Maki, don't be so mean to Yukinon." I could weirdly feel myself crossing the line there. "She's a normal girl too you know and she enjoy things like shopping and all that."

"Hm... I suppose." I muttered. "Anyway, let's get there quick, I have an important announcement." I said with a smile.

But Yui gave me a knowing smile in return. "That or you just can't wait to drink Yukinon's tea."

"S-Shut up."

She giggled.

Quickly making our way through the halls, we arrived in front of the club room at last. Laying three consecutive knocks on the door, we both hear the ever so familiar soothing voice replying us to come in. The door slid open, revealing the Service Club's room in all of its glory. A tea making set on the edge near the windows, stacked chairs and tables at the back, the one table where us three sits, Yukinoshita – our club president herself – and a sly fox sitti-wait.

Sly fox?

"Yahallo Yui-senpai!" Isshiki directed her wave and cheerful persona towards Yuigahama.

"Yahallo Iroha-chan!"

"Ah, you too I guess, senpai."

"Oi." what's with that difference in treatment, huh?

"Uzumaki-kun, Yuigahama-san." Our club president finally acknowledged us. "So good of you two to finally join us. Please, have a seat, tea will be served shortly."

"Um, hey Yukinon, see..." As Yui wandered off, telling tales of her daily adventures to Yukinoshita, I took a seat at my usual spot with Isshiki by my side.

Setting my bag down, I was immediately engaged by the sly fox herself. "Ne, senpai, it must be nice being able to enjoy tea like this every day, huh?" she smirked.

"You're right, it is nice."

"..." her slyness faltered. "...so you're not denying it?"

"Hah?" I gave her a look that I usually gave to waiters and waitresses that served me udon instead of ramen. "What do you mean? What's there for me to deny?"

"Eeeh... nothing." she sipped her tea, eyes skirting around. Suspicious...

"Anyway, why are you here Isshiki?" I asked.

"Wah, so rude." She pouted. I'm sorry to say but I'm beginning to get used to her making that kind of face. "Aren't I allowed to be here both as a client and kouhai, huh? Don't tell me that this is... some sort of _members only_ club?"

"Well, if that was the case, then we'd be out of business already." I snorted, appreciating her humor. "Not there's any much to begin with..."

"I do not appreciate the comment, Uzumaki-kun." Our club president walked into scene, carrying a tea mug in her hand. She leaned forward, giving me one of her famed glare. "By commenting something like that, not only you're undermining your own capabilities, but also our client's problems."

"Yeah, sorry about that prez."

"Whipped."

"Shut it, Isshiki."

"Anyway, Isshiki-san over here is not only here for tea and cakes." Said Yukinoshita while sitting down. "She's also here to share her thoughts."

"Thoughts of what, Yukinon?"

Instead of Yukinoshita who answered, it's Isshiki herself. "Well, you see, I think that I won't be able to become student council president properly even with Shiromeguri-senpai's help." She realized the alarms that that went off. "A-Ah, but that doesn't mean that I'm dropping the position, heck, I don't even have the position yet."

Well, gee, yeah.

"What I'm trying to say is that, even after becoming student council president, I don't think that I can do things alone." she paused. "Even with my future cabinet later on. Sooo... what I'm trying to say is that, er, I'll be asking for senpais' help a lot more from here onward, so, please take care of me!"

She bowed her head-

"Ow!"

-and she hit the table. As expected.

I raised a finger.

"Iroha-chan, we'd be more than happy to help you if you need help."

...theeeen I lowered it back.

"Yuigahama-san's right, Isshiki-san." Yukinoshita just had to say that. "You can always come here if you ever find yourself in need of assistance."

Isshiki's face immediately brighten, stars gleaming in her eyes. "Really, thank you so much senpai!" I'm the only one who's not smiling for some reason. "Then, can I borrow senpai over here for a while?"

"Hah?" that came from all three of us.

"What do you want from me, Isshiki?" Haven't you done enough to me?

"Y-Yeah, Iroha-chan, what could you... possibly need Maki for?" Yui's smile seemed strained. Like, she's constipated or something.

"Is there really a need for that _thing_ , Isshiki-san?"

Aaaand she just had to go there, huh?

"Nah, it's just, I just wanna talk to senpai about something important _pri-vate-ly_."

Oh God, why did she had to make it sound like that?

"So, it's fine, yeah?"

Ignoring the pair of looks that I'm getting from my club mates, I questioned Isshiki. "What more do you want from me?"

"No, no, it's just about that thing in the storage shed."

"S-S-Storage shed?!" Yui, calm down.

"Storage shed..." Yukinoshita's slowly mouthing the words, though no words were coming out.

"...and?"

"Moou... senpai, you sure don't know delicacy do you? It's about that important thing, I... left _it_ there, you know?"

Can this girl be even more misleading?!

"If this is what I'm thinking about, then no." My firm objection of Isshiki's request brought questioning looks from my club mates. "I was pretty sure that I got everything out, don't try and fool me Isshiki."

Hah! Take that you sly fox, your attempt on misleading me and my friends have failed!

"Mou, you're no fun, senpai~" pout all you want girly, nothing's going to move this mountain known as Uzumaki Naruto.

"So..." Yukinoshita saw the need to take control of the situation, it seemed. "Is there a need for Uzumaki-kun's presence, Isshiki-san?"

Isshiki sighed, much to my pleasure. Looks like she's giving up. "No need, Yukinoshita-senpai." she smirked. "For now at least."

This vixen...

"But Isshiki-san brought up an interesting point, Uzumaki-kun." Yukinoshita spoke again. "Have you enlisted Shiromeguri-senpai's help?"

"Yes."

"Without our knowledge?"

"...yes."

"I'm disappointed, Uzumaki-kun."

"cough _whipped_ cough." god fucking damn it, Isshiki.

Yukinoshita leveled me a glare for a few seconds, before it melts eventually into that of concern. "We appreciate you looking out after us, Uzumaki-kun, but please know that we're supposed to do tasks together. I complement your initiative, yes, but please tell us beforehand. Okay, Uzumaki-kun?"

"...fine." I looked away.

"...pft."

I turned around to give Isshiki one nasty glare.

"So, anyway, I take it that that's all for today's meeting, Isshiki-san?"

"Wha, oh, yes." Isshiki coughed, putting down her tea mug. "That's all I have to say for today, Yukinoshita-senpai." She said. "But, I wasn't kidding about needing help. I get the feeling that I'll be getting more than I can chew even with Meguri-senpai's help."

Nodding her head, Yukinoshita seemed pleased with Isshiki's statement. "Very well." then, she looked at both me and Yui. "Is there anything the two of you want to add?"

We shook our head in negative.

"Good. Then, I suppose we're done for club activities today?"

"So soon?" even I had to question her.

"Ah, it's because..." strange, she's trying not to look at me. "Uh..." and stuttering too? That's so unlike Yukinoshita.

"A-Ah! Maki, it's just, eh... I promised Yukinon that we'd shop together later you see?" Yui suddenly interrupted, bringing up a reason to the table. "We're just gonna shop at the mall just the two of us!"

"Oh." That'd make sense why Yukinoshita was hesitating a little bit there. They don't want people to find out about the _yuri_ yet.

"Uzumaki-kun, why do I get the feeling that I have to hit you so hard?"

"I don't know, you tell me?" Ufufufu...

* * *

"A-Ano... Hayama-kun, do you have a moment?"

It's silly, now that she thought about it.

She's about to engage in a conversation with one of the most popular boys in her school, but surprisingly, it's not going to be anything related to love or confessions. With her hair done in braided pigtails, eye glasses and proper issued and unmodified uniform; she's the last thing that a good looking guy like Hayam would talk to.

Even so, no matter the insecurities welling up deep within, she had to go through this; for Sagami.

Every member of Hayama's clique turn their focus to her, eyeing her as if she's some piece of perfectly cooked steak placed in the middle of a lion's cage... with them being the lions. The word uneasy wasn't enough to describe the feeling slowly building up in her; she had to convince herself that this would all be worth the effort. If not more.

"Hm?" Hayama took notice, turning his body to face her. There it was. That prince-like smile that seemed to get every girl swoon his name before fainting... never thought that she got to see it so close. "Ah, how may I help you... Ayano Ayaka-san, isn't it?"

Indeed. He was a nice guy. Even to someone whose presence was as minimal as hers... or maybe that's how it actually was? Being nice only to people he wouldn't talk for more than one meeting? In any case... Hayama was a large contrast between most boys Ayano knew off... especially a certain whiskered teen.

"Er..." it's moments like this when she'd curse her inability to properly socialize to people other than her gang. Maybe it's due to Hayama's borderline superstar reputation in the school? Yeah, that's probably why. "I-I would like to talk-" she asserted herself, fixing her glasses. "-to you about something in private."

She paused, fully aware of the increasing amount of suspicious looks Hayama's friends were giving her.

"Alone." She had to say that. She had to.

She saw the prince himself blink, double taking her request. He did not give her an immediate answer, something that was unexpected to her. She was sure that he'd be familiar with things like this. He had received, like, a million of confessions from girls before, right? So far, he'd say no to all of them... so, why was he hesitating now?

"Woooh! Hayato-kun, another one today, huh?" One of Hayama's nosier friend, Ayano recognized as Tobe, wrapped the blonde haired boy in a headlock. "There was that one underclassmen yesterday, now one from our own class? You gotta teach me man...!"

"Tobe, stop it." With a disappointed click of his tongue, Tobe laid off. Hayama returned his attention back to her, his smile returning. "Well, shouldn't it be fine if we discuss it here? If it's something secret, I'm sure that my friends will keep quiet about it."

And that's the problem here. Ayano had to restrain herself from slapping the guy on the face. Was he that naive?! It's obvious that she'd intended for it to be something discussed in private, now he'd to go and pull something like this? Was this his way of avoiding confessions? Or was this his way of telling her that he didn't want to talk to her?

"I-I'm afraid that's not possible." Ayano swallowed the growing lump in her throat, not used to being pressured like this. "And, if I have to say it here, it's not something like a confession or anything like that."

Fuck.

Fuck, fuck, fuck!

Fuck!

Why did she say that?! Why did she had to say something as self centered sounding as that?! Look at the wide eyes they're making; look at the look Hayama's making himself! Fuck...

Now they're going to think of her as some self centered preppy who's so full of herself... so much for trying to socialize...

"Eh... I take back what I said before, bro." you're not helping here, Tobe.

Hayama had that 'deer caught at the end of a double barreled shotgun' look going on, but the difference was that he looked pretty relieved afterwards. His smile didn't come off as strained and forced as the one before, and if Ayano had to say herself, he looked more handsome than usual.

"Is that so?" He laughed as if he'd dismissed the comment as some good natured joke. "I don't get that much often, don't I, Yumiko?"

Miura Yumiko. How could Ayano not not know her. She's the Queen of Soubu, the only girl who Hayama's really close with. But, if she recalled, they're not dating? Right?

"Hmph." the faux blonde haired girl scoffed, turning her heels, directing her body elsewhere. For one, Ayano was sure she looked relieved too.

"So..." Ayano breathed out. "Can we talk, now?"

It's just after homeroom. The first period teacher wouldn't be here for another fifteen minutes and the talk that she's planning wouldn't even consume ten. Slowly, but surely, Ayano could feel Hayama's friends laying her off bit by bit. She had, somehow, successfully made time for a private conversation with the Hayama Hayato.

"Sure." he nodded. "Outside?"

"Yes, please." Ayano nodded, albeit with much nervousness.

The scene changed, the two of them were now outside. As expected, the hallway was still quiet. Students were usually inside their classroom or off to take bathroom breaks. Either way, she's glad that she'd the opportunity to talk to Hayama.

The faux blonde leaned on the window overlooking the school's courtyard, drawing her attention to his eyes and radiant hair. "So, what do you want to talk about?"

Okay, this was her chance. But before she proceeded, she needed to make sure that she had everything in the bag.

Her reason for talking to Hayama was to question him if he knew anything about Sagami-chan's situation. That's all...

...shit, that's all.

She should've planned this whole thing better.

"H-Hayama-kun," she should start speaking, she didn't want to drag this out any longer than necessary. "do you consider yourself close to Minami Sagami-san?"

"Sagami?" Hayama's eyes blinked, as if he did not expect that name to enter their conversation. "Why? What's wrong with Sagami?"

Ayano heard from her uncle who's counselor at another school that students who were suspected for doing mistakes tend to return a question with another question when they're trying to prolong the conversation. In this case, since she's not suspecting Hayama for anything bad – hopefully – she couldn't tell whether Hayama was trying to get as much information out from her or trying to ward her questioning off of him.

Either way, she had to answer.

"Uh... you see, lately, she's been very emotional." She apologized to Sagami in her heart, knowing that if she wanted to be helped, she had to play the role of the bucket with holes. "And... it seems that, though we're not a hundred percent sure about it, it's... related to guys."

Hayama Hayato was one of the academically gifted students in this school, so that'd explain the look of realization on his face.

"I-I'm sorry if I assumed such things... Hayama-kun... but..."

But he shook his head, smile still present on his face. "It's okay, no offense taken." That somewhat eased her a little bit. "But... if I have to be completely honest here, Sagami and I don't talk much. You can ask my friends. So... I wouldn't know anything about Sagami's current conditions even if you're to ask me."

Hearing Hayama's answer made Ayano frown. "Oh... I see." Hayama did not know anything. But... Sagami told her that whenever she'd see Hayama, she'd feel emotional... or wait.

 _'Guys like Hayama-kun...'_

Ayano's mind went into thinking mode. This did not go unnoticed by Hayama himself. He wandered what's exactly going on. Ayano's reason for talking to him alone was odd as it was, but this thing about Sagami? Had there been things he'd not heard off?

"U-Um, hey, Ayano-san?"

Hayama's voice broke Ayano's thinking trails. The glasses wearing girl looked up, meeting the taller boy's eyes with her own. "Yes?" she inquired.

"Is there something serious going on with Sagami?" Hayama asked. Ayano did not know whether he was concerned or something... but, perhaps even the notion of asking itself could be considered as nice.

"It's..." Ayano trailed off, voice fading. "...private. At the moment at least." Yeah, that's probably the most appropriate way to say it. "Unless Sagami-chan say it's okay to share it with others, then, I won't say anything yet." the braided girl bowed her head in a form of apology, confusing Hayama. "I'm sorry for being unreasonably Hayama-kun, but please, understand."

"It's... fine, there's no need to apologize..." The faux blonde teen brushed her apology off with a slight smile. "I'll just wish you luck then with whatever it is that you plan on doing."

Ayano allowed a small smile to form on her face, made possible from the slight tug on the corners of her lips. "Thank you."

* * *

"So, are the accounts up yet?"

" _They're all set up, comrade. All that's left is to wait."_

"Hn, good. The true hunters are the ones who wait for their prey, rather than search for them. Good job, Zaimokuza. I'll send you the spoils of war via dropbox later."

" _Most pleased to be working with you, my friend. We shall meet again at the break of dawn..."_

Whew, who knew that Chuuni-nglish could be tiring? I swear... the amount of effort I had to exert to not cringe at myself... but never mind that. Phase Two was now in action. Zaimokuza had done his part of setting up multiple Twitter accounts with the list of names I've given him.

From here, I could already see that people from our school following those accounts.

It's always amazing to see how people who chea-no, _planned properly_ , always get the upper hand. Doing this was borderline cheating, yes, but they didn't say that candidates couldn't do online promotions. I had each accounts set up with a fake poll to get nomination support from those who'd enter. As expected, the account with Hayama's name on it got the highest, so far at least. Followed by Miura's and so on and so forth.

Since I had to take into account of the same people voting for multiple candidates, I'd just pick the account with the highest vote. Simple. Then, I'll get the result on paper and off to start Phase Three from that point onwards. Whew, believe me, it's actually simpler than what it seemed.

"Hm... what time is it..." looking at my lapton's screen for too long made my eyes itch. "Ah, it's already this late, huh?" My printer's all set up and everything... should I print now?

"Meh, better do it now." So I wouldn't forget about it later.

* * *

"Monday's the day when they'll announce the election results, huh...?"

That meant the results would be announced in just two days. Today's Saturday and they current student council and staff were probably going to use the rest of the day to prepare things for Monday.

"Eh? What's wrong, you never really concern yourself with something like that before, Aya-cchi."

Ayano sighed, taking her glasses off from her face, placing it on the table. "Yeah... I'm probably just overthinking things..."

The lips belonging to other girl stretch, forming a small frown. "Hah? What's wrong, something's up?"

The braided girl did not answer right away. She pinched the bridge of her nose, wondering if she should really answer that question. This action caused the other girl to question her even more, however. "You look like you've been up all night, don't tell me you've been studying?"

'Yeah... but it's probably not the kind of studying you'd expect...' Was what went through the glasses wearing girl's head. Sighing again, she picked up her glasses, returning them to the frame of her face. "Had to make up for several subjects I'm weak at, otherwise I won't get enough credits."

"You're too Aya, let loose a little." Her friend nudged her. "Tell you what, why don't we go karaoke? And invite Sagami-chan while you're at it, she's been looking pretty bad recently, eh?"

Her lips pursed, eyes downcast. "...I'll... consider it."

"Sure."

Waving goodbye, her friend upped and left, returning to her own classroom. Ayano sighed for the third time that day... or was it fourth? Last night had not been kind, especially if you're someone who's active in terms of social media like her. With all those Twitter polls popping up, she just had to check those out, you know?

But in the end... she kinda went and voted for Hayama.

Not that there's any deep meaning behind it.

But... after some thinking and talks with Sagami, she had come to a conclusion.

She-

"Aya-chan?"

Thoughts derailed from their course, Aya blinked back to reality. In front of her was none other than Sagami herself. Unlike yesterday... she looked better.

"Sagami-chan?" Ayano replied, albeit later. "I didn't know that you're here... weren't you eating with Hikari and the rest?"

Sagami nodded, before dragging a nearby chair for her to use. "Um, just finished. They were going to talk to the other girls from 2-C, but I told them that I wasn't feeling well, so I returned back to class."

"What? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, I'm fine." Sagami chuckled at seeing the look of concern on her friend's eyes. "Sheesh, maybe telling you about it wasn't a good idea if you're going to be a worrywart like this..."

Ayano was fully aware that Sagami had intended for it to come out as a joke, but... it hurt a little bit. Dismissing the well intentioned, but nonetheless hurtful, joke; Ayano let out several dry chuckles.

"I'm just... very concerned you know." muttered the braided girl, her eyes pointed downwards to her skirt. "I saw the same expression that my mother made while she was still coping with grandma's death..."

That revelation hit Sagami harder than it was supposed to. Unable to properly react to it, Sagami laughed, although it's forced. "N-No way, did I look... that... bad?" for some reason, her attempt to brush off the seriousness of Ayano's revelation failed.

Sagami watched as Ayano nodded her head. "Yeah... only, you don't know what made you like that in the first place."

Sagami gulped. She did not know why, but she felt this heavy feeling descending slowly onto her. "I... yeah... I guess I was... too out of it."

Ayano raised her head, the worry in her eyes was still there. "Sagami-chan, are you sure that you're not hiding anything from me?" Ayano had read about it from somewhere.

People with sensitive experience tend to not want to talk about them despite... as ironic as this sounded... wanting to talk about them in the first place. Maybe it was due to insecurities or something... trauma... bad memories... it was unclear.

"No." Sagami could firmly say it. She had nothing to hide, not when she's... suffering like this.

But Sagami's answer didn't make it easier for Ayano one bit. She sighed for the most time that day.

"Haaah... I guess I had to ask Uzumaki-kun again, huh?"

"Huh?"

Sagami's eyes went wide.

Ayano blinked. "What's wrong, Sagami-chan?"

Sagami's pupils were dilated. She was looking at Ayano, but not at the same time. Flashes of images she'd never seen before appeared before her, disappearing almost instantaneously. Her right hand twitched, it's the kind of twitching where your body had no control over or whatsoever. Slowly, that same hand reached up to her chest, or where her heart's at to be more specific.

Of course, this entire scene did not go unnoticed by Ayano.

"Sagami-chan... you..."

Ayano could not, for the love of her, miss the tears streaming down her friend's eyes. She wanted to ask Sagami why was she suddenly crying and what's happened to her... but...

...before she could do anything...

Sagami was already out cold.

* * *

 **Oh boy... another cliffhanger again... damn, you guys must love me, huh?**

 **Anyway, very sorry for the wait guys but last week hadn't been very good to me. Had a meeting with me ex at a theme park while I was hanging out with my friends, met her and her 'friends', lost my phone on said theme park because my dumb ass was careless and the fact that my family's preparing for an overseas trip.**

 **I hate trips.**

 **So, yeah, not a very good week for me... but oh well, what could I do?**

 **And yeah, I did something different here in this chapter. I had things wrote out from an OC's perspective. I have to admit, it was fun to write. I don't usually write female P.O.V and I thought that it was a good change of pace from the usual but surely, steadily boring pace that's undoubtedly making this story staler and stale bread.**

 **Aaaand, please, tell me, how did I do with the new perspective.**

 **This story did not make it to the 10k mark, including the A/N... hm... what's wrong with me? Anyway, hope you guys enjoyed it and I'll be seeing you in the next chappy, peace out.**

 **Edit: Oh, looks like the final editing barely made it to 10k. Barely.**


	24. Love and Regret (AN)

So, where to start...

First of all, I guess it's only right if I start this entry with an apology. I am aware that I've disappointed a lot of you guys just by putting this announcement chapter our, but I'd rather not hide things from you guys who have been following this story from the very beginning. However, let me be straightforward:

You won't be seeing any updates from this story.

Yes, crucify me on the cross, burn me at the stake; no amount of apologies could absolve me after saying those words alone, but you readers must know why.

And here is why.

Inspiration. It's amazing how fleeting the little thing is. It struck you like a bullet train on steroids, but when it dies down, it's deader than a twice killed zombie. I'll be honest here guys. I have zero inspirations to continue this story. I know this is a straight up insult for those of you who have reviewed, followed and favorited this story after all this time, but that's the situation presented here.

I no longer feel the flame that I once had when I used to binge update this series. Remember that one particular time when I used to release, like, three chapters in a week? Well, those days are long gone and over. I cannot, for the love of me, bring myself to write anything else about this story. I have plans for it, sure, but... I just cannot bring myself to write it.

It has... bored me. This story, which is the most reviewed and highest rated story I have ever published, is no longer a muse to me.

And to those of you who are saying I'm _'abandoning'_ the story because I've driven myself to a corner with how the latest development was going, you guys are _only_ partially right.

You see, I have things planned for the current whole 'Sagami and Naruto' arc, I have interesting ideas that I wanted to put there... but I don't know if I could bring myself to write those ideas down on paper. I mean, I could tell you guys what will happen to those two right here, right now, but that wouldn't feel right.

I have so, so many things to write about... but none of my interest is leaning towards this story in particular.

I'm just not motivated to write anything related to this story. That's the problem here.

But you might be thinking, _'then what's with all the other stories you've published? What about your other Naruto and Oregairu crossover,_ _ **Mercenary**_ _?'_

Well guys, that story is in critical condition too, but it's not the one I'm... going to completely set aside just yet. There may come a time where I'll have to set aside that story too in the future, though. But I guess it's safe to say that you shouldn't expect anything from that story too.

Right now, my interest is completely facing somewhere else entirely. It's no longer facing the direction of writing a crossover series between Naruto and anything high school or Light Novel related anymore. See, throughout these times, I've experienced new things.

I went through a... hard break up about four or five months ago, got into the academy of my choosing in another country, been working on part time shifts, and I've seen new series that might have just changed my views on anime as an entertainment media and all that. There's just too much reasons for me to list down, and I don't want to write about them too much, it will make me feel more of an ass than what I already am.

If you guys notice, I've been trying to release a lot more standalone works rather than crossover ones. I've released snippets of standalone Oregairu fanfic and even the newest **Pieces of Fragments** story. This wind of change have been blowing for some time, and I think it's time for me to stop resisting, even if I know you guys will be immensely upset if I do exactly that.

But what can I say? Forced creativity isn't creativity at all. I can't write anything on something that I have no longer have any interest in.

So, the bottom line is, **I'm just an immortal living my life as a teenager** will be _discarded until further notice._

I will not use 'abandon' as a word to describe what I'm doing, even if some of you may interpret it as so. Think of it as setting aside the main quest of a very generic RPG for the more interesting side quests. Just like those main quests, I know that I'll have to, one day, return to this fic again.

I'm aware that I'll lose a lot of trust from you guys, some of you might have already left in the process of reading this announcement (lol), and I understand. I have no one but myself to blame, even though I know I shouldn't.

So, that's it.

A shift in the wind. And like a fallen leaf, I can only be swept away from my original course.

 **With love and regret,**

 **Rain** (that's my irl nickname)


	25. The Mind Dilemma

**Read the note at the bottom, please. It's very important.**

* * *

"Uzumaki Naruto…! Is Uzumaki Naruto here?!"

Yukinoshita nearly drops the tea leaves she has been scaling, Yui almost drops her pen and I am pretty sure I just accidentally clicked the delete option with my mouse to a very important document that is needed ASAP by the people in the publishing company.

Naturally, all of our eyes are immediately drawn towards the source of this disturbance; the so called pebble that fell into the pond. Regardless of our miniscule differences in reaction time, it doesn't take long for all of us to realize that a person is standing under the door frame with her eyes locked onto me as if they're a fighter jet's complicated missile guidance system.

Another thing that we all notice is the look of pure worry and anguish on her face. The moment I see her face, something sinks into me; like a black hole forming in on itself.

"Excuse me, may I help you?" Yukinoshita looks like she's annoyed. I'll be honest, I don't really see her making that type of face often these days.

Ayano's gaze is switched to Yukinoshita's. "I-I'm sorry, but I really, really need Uzumaki-san for this." In a split second, her eyes are back at me; screaming for me to comply with her.

"I'm sorry, but we are in the middle of club activities right now." Yup, you can tell from her voice. She's annoyed. Yukinoshita sends Ayano a glare that can normally freeze up… anyone in general, heck.

"A-Ayano-cchi?" Yui stands up from her chair, the sound of the metal legs dragging along the surface of the room's floor tiles causes me to wince visibly. "What's wrong, you look like you ran all the way here from the other side of the school or something."

...I won't be surprised if that's true.

"H-Hi Yui." The glasses wearing girl greets Yui with labored breath, further proving Yui's unintentional theory. "A-Anyway, I need Uzumaki-san to come with me, i-it's important!"

This prompts me to stand up.

Although I know more or less how things are going to turn from this point, I make sure to make myself look as clueless as possible.

"What about me?" I asked, completely disinterested in my usual nonchalant tone. "Is a teacher looking for me? Don't tell me it's Hiratsuka-sensei again."

"Wait, again? Maki, have you been teasing her again?"

"Noooooo~ you're just assuming things, Yu-"

"Please! Just come with me already!"

I'll… admit, I jumped a little. Yui too, actually. Ayano is looking at me with triple the amount of worry and anguish she already has, in fact, it looks like she's about to unreasonably combust in an uncharacteristic outburst of some sort. Why do I know it's uncharacteristic? Well, it's because Yui's surprised too. Well, she might've just 'burst out' so to speak, but it feels like it's just the tip of the iceberg of what might just happen.

"L-Look." She breathes in one last time, finally getting her breathing in check. "I don't have time for jokes. I need you to come with me immediately, Uzumaki-san."

My face forms a natural mask of indifference, but still showing that slight hint of attempt on assumption. "...alright." Yukinoshita gives me a look of confusion, she must be wondering why I'm complying easily.

"It's probably urgent. I'll head back as soon as I'm done."

It takes a while before Yukinoshita responds, but with the slight smile she's showing me, I think it's safe to say that she trusts me with my decision. "Alright then. In the meantime, Yuigahama-san and I will discuss more about Isshiki-san's situation. Speaking of which, we'll have to discuss about this with Shiromeguri-senpai too."

I walked towards the door, waving my hand while Ayano-san follows in suit. "Yeah, why don't you go over to the student council room and book an appointment for us," turning back, I grinned cheekily, "try to make it sometime next week if that's possible, my editor's been really unfair to me these past few days."

I gave them one last wave before excusing myself from the club room. The hallway is as quiet as it is usually during after school time. In fact, it made me think why Ayano-san is still here in the first place. I was about to start a conversation, preferably to confirm if the reason she is calling me out here has something to do with Sagami but she beats me to the punch.

"I… don't know what's really going on with you and Sagami-chan, Uzumaki-san, but you must know that she's passed out in the clinic right now."

It took me a lot of self control to keep on walking and not stop dead on my tracks, although I was now walking several paces slower than her.

It also took me awhile before I could respond to her revelation. But when I finally managed to speak, my voice came out hoarse.

" _What?"_

"Sagami-chan fainted. Passed out. She became unconscious just like that," she snaps her fingers, the resounding snapping sound it makes synchronizes with the guilt that clanked with my heart, "and it didn't take me long enough to figure out that you're somehow connected to this."

"Look here, I know that our first meeting wasn't one that people would normally consider normal but… what makes you think I'm responsible for this anyway?"

I can see her balling her palms into fists even as she walks, looks like she's doing a better job at restraining herself than I normally would compulsively.

"Please don't play around with me, Uzumaki-san… I know that you know something about Sagami-chan's… condition." She lets out a heavy sigh that masks her anger. "In fact, I don't know if I can call it a condition in the first place because the last time I checked, my friend is not prone to faint or pass out at the mention of a blonde haired boy's name."

Though she isn't screaming, her frustration is clearly evident. I had to choose my words carefully, as letting things play out on their own isn't going to be an option that I could choose anymore. Sagami was a mistake. _My_ mistake and it's finally lead me to this dilemma, one that has managed to rope up another individual who could have nothing to do with this situation if only I was careful enough from the beginning.

She abruptly stops walking, prompting me to do the same. Although it looks counterproductive since she is so insistent on hurrying, her delay of our walk is justified.

She sends me a look which is a mixture of both a glare and desperateness. "I don't care if Sagami-chan's in love with you… but if you've hurt her in any way then I'll…"

I looked at her and I couldn't help but feel… sorry?

Wait, sorry?

Yes… sorry… I pity her, yes, I actually do feel sorry for her.

But at the same time, I'm beginning to respect her.

Anyone from our class who has their ears and eyes open every lunchtime is smart enough to know that Sagami, and her group, isn't the most friendly set of people in this school. In fact, last I checked, their reputation says the opposite. I may not know why Ayano-san is willing to be grouped in the same category as them - since I'm a hundred percent sure she's not like Sagami at all - but regardless of the reason, she's put herself in a position that people would normally consider bothersome or just plain annoying.

It takes a lot of patience and heart to do that… believe me, I know a boy who was just like that too.

I feel sorry for her because she's involved in this situation, a situation that might force me to take even more drastic actions… but I respect her solidarity.

For sticking true to her friend.

For being a human being that is a step above the rest.

So, out of respect for her, I decided to be frank.

I let out a sigh.

She looks at me from her turmoiled state, fists shivering in both suppressed irritation and fear over the man that might have something to do with her friend's current incapacitated state. Her eyes meet mine and we clash. Right here on the hallway, my resolve of wanting to stay confidential and uphold my secretive nature and her own persistence over the concern of her friend clashed.

It might look like we stare into each other's eyes for a few seconds, sharing no words, but heated looks from her part and uncaring indifference from my part… but trust me, we're battling a war at a personal scale.

Just as she's trying to find answers regarding the cause of her friend's current fate, I am too trying to find something within hers. Her resolve is definitely there. The fire in her eyes clearly says it all, even if she looks like she's at the verge of breaking down. Even against someone who can potentially hurt her without any effort at all, she still dares to stand up and look at him in the eyes.

Let me tell you; it doesn't hit close to home any more than that.

I closed my eyes.

…

I lost.

Her resolve has been tested, and she managed.

Perhaps it isn't an answer I was looking out of her… perhaps I've been looking for a reminder.

* * *

"Tell me Ayano-san… do you believe in magic?"

"...I told you before Uzumaki-san, I don't appreciate the humor you're making at this mome-"

"Just a question, Ayano-san. Entertain me."

I… do not know why is he asking me this.

"...well, obviously, no… but those performers we see on the television do make things look convincing." I pause. Wondering out loud, "Why are you asking me this question?"

My answer wasn't quickly answered. I suspected he's attempting to think of a plausible answer that will leave me still completely clueless in this pit of maze I'm stuck in… but color me surprise.

We are overlooking Sagami-chan's unconscious body - and I'm saying that with the least amount of remorse as I could - in the infirmary. The school nurse let us in, also asking us to watch over the place since she has to do report the situation to the faculty member. Understandable, I say.

Uzumaki-san is standing on the front edge of Sagami-chan's bed, back slightly hunched over and hands in his pocket looking as disinterested as ever. I saw his eyes and I couldn't quite understand why he's not panicked or worried in the slightest bit.

He doesn't answer me immediately, but he what he does do is to bend over slightly, right hand reaching for my sleeping friend.

Multiple alarms went off in my head. The surprise I had earlier transformed into suspicious hostility.

Slap. The sound of my palm swatting his hand off of Sagami-chan's body could've been heard by the school nurse if she's here, but thankfully that's not the case.

My eyes were fixed on him, on his very form; his hands mostly.

" _What are you-"_ I hissed.

Again, he interrupts me before I could even finish what I was about to say. The hand I swatted away earlier is now used to perform the 'shushing' gesture, and of course, it's meant for me. He actually has the audacity to scold me, looking like he's some sort of school librarian and I'm the perp guilty of being too loud in the garden of words.

I didn't know why I did nothing else and let him continue what he's about to do. He reaches forward, arm reaching out to touch Sagami-chan. I saw the shadow of his hand looming over Sagami-chan's form, ascending further up her unmoving body, enveloping the darkened creases of the folds on her uniform.

The moment his shadow of his hand begins to reach Sagami-chan's torso area, my body tenses, as if it's ready to spring at any given moment. I swore my heart's going to burst out of my chest with how fast it's beating. His hand does not stop there, it advancecs further, up to her face, across her lips and nose; never touching.

Then, he stops on her forehead. At that moment, I'd calmed down, but I was still looking at him with tenseness in my muscle. Why are you taking a long time to call the teachers here, nurse-san?

He slowly descends his palm, latching it softly on Sagami-chan's forehead. He closes his eyes, and I was still staring at him, waiting and wondering what he's about to do now. Then, I blinked.

W-What?

A-Are my eyes playing tricks on me?

I'm… I'm not hallucinating aren't I? Hey, I'm not seeing things… right?

I subtly pinched myself on the back of my own palm, and I felt pain. That confirms it. I was not dreaming. I'm conscious right now.

I'm currently seeing Uzumaki-san's hand glowing as he's touching… Sagami-chan's forehead…

"W-What…?"

To further emphasize the timing, he opens his eyes just right after I uttered my confusion to what I was seeing.

"Well… that's no magic but it's enough to tell us that she's fine." Uzumaki-san suddenly says.

I gave him a long look that must have exposes my worry. He looks at me briefly, giving me a somewhat reassuring glance.

"She's fine. Nothing too serious." I watched him retract his hand back, the soft minty green flow gingerly flickers off to inexistence. "She should be awake in the next thirty minutes or so… but that won't be enough time for me to explain things to you."

I was about to ask, inquire, _interrogate_ him… but then we both hear the sound of footsteps coming from down the hall. They sound hurried.

"Tch…" He clicks his tongue in irritation. "Well… might as well spill it."

I saw him raise his right hand to his chest, bending it so that he could have his forearm directly in front him. He curls three of his fingers, leaving only the pointer and middle finger raised. Then, he utters a word I wasn't familiar with.

Wait… huh? Why am I…?

I felt… weird. It's as if my consciousness had just been shut off for a split second and then rebooted back up like a desktop computer. I felt an arm breaking my fall caused by my drowsiness. I couldn't see things clearly, my head felt like a mess.

"Hey now… take it easy." I-Is that Uzumaki-san? "It's going to be uncomfortable for you since this is the first time you've experienced this… and please don't take what I said out of context."

I neither had the strength nor energy to retort his words. He slowly helps me to sit upright, letting me lean on the chair's backrest. Slowly, I gradually feel that I have more reign over my senses, it's similar to how I'd feel after waking up from a six hour power nap. I blinked multiple times, trying to get the blurriness off my vision.

When I finally came to, I noticed three things. The first thing being Uzumaki-san having pulled a chair of his own to sit on the other side of the bed directly opposite to my own position, the second being Sagami-chan still unconscious on the bed and the third, it's what made me snap out of my trance even quicker.

"T-The door! W-Where's the door!"

I heard laughing, and it came from none other than Uzumaki-san himself. Why are you laughing, Uzumaki-san?!

"Why are you laughing, Uzumaki-san?!" I actually shouted that out loud. I then realized what I just did. "W-What's going on, where's the door?" I asked in a much lower, but nevertheless worried tone.

He stops his laughter, letting it fade while wiping a stray tear that has leaked out from the corner of his eye.

"Sorry for laughing… this is my first time voluntarily letting a normal person see me use a jutsu in a long time."

Jutsu? What's that? Speak in Japanese, _please?!_

"Judging from the confusion plastered across your face… well, you know what? I don't blame you. I knew that I would have to do a shit ton of explaining once I decided to go through with this, so don't worry, I'll explain things in the simplest way possible."

He doesn't even wait for my reply. And he still hasn't answered my question; where's the freaking door?! And why is light isn't passing through the windows?! Where in the hell are we?!

I have so much questions that needed answering and my source of getting those questions answered just had to be the world's most mysterious person.

"To start with, Ayano-san, I'm a…"

Oh he's speaking! What's he going to say?!

"I am a…"

I unconsciously leaned forward; I am literally at the edge of my seat right now.

"...an alien."

" _Don't fuck with me!"_

I pointed a straight, accusing finger at the blonde. My chair clatters as it falls from my sudden act of standing up, while my face is probably flushed because of the anger.

"What, it's true." The blonde has the audacity to look and sound offended.

And that pisses me off.

"Well, technically, I'm both a descendant and the reincarnation of one."

"And what, you have super powers or something?"

He looks away.

"...you've got to be kidding me…" I stopped myself from falling, barely capable of doing so myself. "S-So… what? What did you do to Sagami-chan?"

"Oi, oi when you put it like that, it sounds like I'm guilty for a crime or something."

"Uzumaki-san, there is no other person here in Japan, _on earth_ , that can be more guilty than you at this very moment." I glared at him, taking off my glasses so that I could get the condensation off from the surface of the glass.

"Sheesh, fine, I'm guilty, sure, we'll leave it at that."

I have never wanted to punch a person so bad in my entire life…

"But, back to the point… yes, I did something to Sagami. But let me make it clear right here," his voice takes on a deep turn, his eyes are staring right at me to show his seriousness, "I would never, _ever_ , do what I did without consent."

Something crawled up my back.

"D-Did _you…_?" I stared at him with horror in my eyes, gasping.

He blinks exactly three times, head tilting sideways expressing confusion. Then, he recoils, after realizing the explicit implication that my question might have suggested.

"What, no!" He raised his hands, waving them frantically. " _No! NO!_ Oh no… _no!_ It's nothing like that ya' perverted glasses girl!"

"Hey!" I fought down the redness that is spreading across my face. Can you blame me for assuming such things?! "Y-You're the one who makes it sound so… so… indecent!" Though I'm shouting, I feel myself calming down.

I saw him pinching his forehead, wincing.

"Look… let's get our minds out of the gutter and finish this whole thing up, okay? That illusion I put on the hallway isn't going to last long." He sighs. "And to be honest, I don't really like to waste my reserves like this, it's pointless if I do say so myself."

"Is that why the teachers aren't here yet?" I asked.

"Yeah."

That's… impressive. I never thought I'd get to see something so… so… fictional in reality.

"So, can we start with the explanation?" He must've detected the wonder in my face and decides to put it into his hands to stop me before I could delay anything even further.

"O-Oh, sure… yes," I swallowed the growing lump of air in my throat, "please."

Without further ado… he begins his explanation.

* * *

"I won't go into past details - past as in _my_ past, childhood, etcetera - and hopefully this will make more sense into this story.

So, where to start…

I'm not a normal human being. That much is obvious. Aside from the illusion, the missing door, you being drowsy earlier, being a certified badass in overall and the other normally otherwise unbelievable shit I could do… I am also an immortal.

You might not believe me… but you're left with no other choice but to believe anyway. So, please, give me the benefit of the doubt if you have to.

Sagami… believe it or not, she didn't know anything about this. Well, I kind'a clued her in on it that day, but I believe she didn't know the truth about me. Even the slightest bit.

When was 'that day' you're asking me… well, 'that day' was the day of the cultural festival.

Yes.

Judging from the look on your face, you must've done a lot of thinking yourself. You're a smart girl, Ayano-san, smarter than me, that's for sure. But enough with the jokes.

That day, just as the festival was about to end… Sagami confessed to me. Of course, I tried to stop her… why did I stop her, you ask? Well, obviously… I can't really let that happen now can I?

…

No. Of course not. I couldn't and I still can't. It's not something a normal person like you could understand, Ayano-san. For someone like me, there's no such thing as a 'happy ending' anymore. There's no such thing as a 'Happily Ever After' between the both of us; only me. And even so, it wouldn't be a happy one.

…

...tell me, Ayano-san… have you ever woke up one morning, wondering why on god's green earth are you still alive? Now I do apologize if you do have thought of certain things, but the context I'm looking for here is less of a depressed teenager's suicidal thoughts but more of a Shakespearean existential regret crisis dilemma.

No, you probably don't have those kind of mornings…

While I don't want to be a bleeding heart and expose all the cuts I have all over me, I just want to say that living a long, long life can be even more hellish than having to go through each day experiencing suicidal thoughts. Why? Because unlike the latter, you can't die when you're immortal.

...I'll be perfectly honest here, Ayano-san. My first few years of being unable to die, I wanted nothing more than to die.

There, I said it.

I always close my eyes, hoping and wishing that someday, soon, my life will be snuffed out of existence. I couldn't bear the thought of just waking up another day having to live. I was sick of living. I started doing things that would make mental asylum patients look sane. Bleeding, mutilated, drowning, decapitation, poisons, hanging…

I just can't die.

…

...I don't want pity, Ayano-san. I want you to understand that… no matter how wishful a person is, sometimes, their wish is just not meant to be. Sagami can never be truly happy with me, no one could, I've had literal centuries to hammer that fact into me. To make it easier for you to understand, picture this:

Imagine a girl confessing to a boy, a boy she loved. He's her high school crush, the love of her life. They graduated high school and promised each other that they'll be forever together even though they have to go to different university. She managed to get into a university of her choice which isn't far from where she and her family is living, but the guy went to college in another prefecture to fulfill his dream of becoming a writer.

They're both sad, obviously, having to part and essentially making their relation into a long distanced one. He told her he'll remain faithful and she had his word for it, and a ring too.

They both… promised that they'll try and see each other whenever they have free time, be it the weekends or just any spare time they could gather.

Years passed… and they graduated. He got his degree and a good job prospect as a freelance editor, which was a little sad since he didn't get to be a writer, while she received a recommendation to work as an intern in the country's most highly regarded agency firm.

Three years down the road, they got the job they wanted and finally decided to get married.

They had their wedding at a lovely chapel, their families and friends were there and… they felt the happiest they could in their life.

But...

...as they grow old, have children, and live their life in matrimony… _the husband never grows old._

He's as good looking and young as the day he wore that expensive three piece suit… not a single wrinkle on his face. He remained the youthful twenty six year old man while his wife had experience the strains of growing old.

He could not relate with her when she said she's having pain at her lower back area.

He could not go out a day from his house together with his wife without being mistaken as her son or relative.

And he could not bear the weight of living with the haunting thought of having to see the woman of his life eventually die.

…

...but you know what he could do, Ayano-san?

…

Oh, no, it's fine, I'll tell you.

He could only be there for her, smiling, telling her that he'll never leave her.

He could only sit there, smiling, as his grandchildren stare in disbelief that he is their grandfather.

He could only stand there… and _watch_ as they slowly descend his wife's coffin into the ground… still smiling because he promised her, on her deathbed, that he would smile no. matter. what.

…

…

...but it didn't end there, Ayano-san. No. _Oh no._

He had to _experience_ , _feel_ and _see_ the same thing happen all over again with _his children_ , _their children_ and _their children's children_... and he could only stand there and watch.

Now, tell me, who do you feel sorry for?

The man or the woman?

* * *

"Now tell me, who do you feel sorry for?"

I…

"The man or the woman?"

I… I'm speechless. I-I don't know what to say.

In what seems to be eternity, I was left on my seat with a very, very hard question to answer. I sat there without being able to say any words. I swear, this was the quietest I've been all my life. He's looking at me with expectation in his eyes while his overall facial feature maintains a neutral and patient look.

But I knew that those eyes of his are judging me.

"I… think…" Despite wanting to answer, I really couldn't say anything right off the bat. I mean, can you blame me?!

He nudges his eyebrows, a way to tell me to continue what I was going to say.

"Well, I mean, look…" at this point, I'm just stalling. "You… kind of stuck with the man on your narrative there… so it's hard for me to not feel sorry for the man." I scratched the back of my head while lowering it to avoid his intent gaze.

He smiles, I can feel him smiling. "Fair enough, I suppose." He finally says, chuckling too.

I still did not get why he told me that story. I mean, obviously… he was speaking about himself.

...right?

A very uncomfortable air of silence manifests inside this isolated infirmary. The unconscious form of our classmate is still on the bed, showing no signs of waking up. Meanwhile, my mind was still plagued with what Uzumaki-san has just told me.

His story and the question he had for me in the end… I don't think my answer really satisfies him, heck, I don't think he regards it as an answer in the first place. But deep down, I really pity the man in his story.

Being an immortal… someone who cannot and will not die…

I could never imagine what it would feel like.

Humans' lifespan varies… but I'd heard that it's a short one we're dealt with. Hopes, dreams, ambitions… reaching or accomplishing these things will somehow give meaning to our lives, perhaps, creating the illusion that it was a long life we've lived.

I…

I could not answer him. I wanted to feel sorry for the man, but I know the same man wouldn't want me to feel sorry for him.

"It seems that I've given you a lot to think of, Ayano-san."

His voice disrupted my train of thoughts, forcing me to look at him again. Now, something seems different about him.

Uzumaki Naruto is known to be Soubu's most mysterious yet enigmatic student. No one knows what's going on in his head. But lately, I'd heard of the reputable and commendable things that he had done to and for the school.

There are also words of him being an eccentric individual, and I'd only managed to confirm this point recently. People described him as lazy, narcissistic, scary and even a straight up jerk in some cases. But I have never had the opportunity to confirm those characteristics of his.

...well, maybe I have, now.

But, what I'm trying to say is, it's not often people see him looking all mellow and… vulnerable.

Now I'm not saying that people haven't seen him looking all mellow and vulnerable and stuff… but, this was my first time seeing him like this and… and…

...it's just plain out of character.

"You… do." I managed to mumble out snippets of what I actually wanted to say.

"I'm sure that you know where I'm getting at, right?"

I nodded.

It's simple, now that I've thought about it.

He told that tale in the perspective of the man, and he wanted me to figure out how things would've turned out for the girl. As an avid reader myself, I've seen enough literature to mirror the outcome that could potentially happen to these two characters.

And it's just like Uzumaki-san said, there are no happily ever afters here.

The woman would slowly realize her husband's permanence. She would worry each day, trying to figure out ways to make herself look younger and more presentable for her youthful husband. She would have to cope with the self-consciousness of age and beauty. She would have to deal with the constant ideas of her husband leaving her for a much younger and youthful partner.

And worst of all… the vow they made that day at the chapel…

 _In sickness and in health… until death do us apart…_

I could not imagine…

I closed my eyes, holding back the rush of emotions flowing through me.

"Hey now, don't cry." He laughs. "It was just a story, after all. No real meaning into it."

I could not say anything. Still attempting to hold myself back.

"After the Kyoto trip… we confronted each other." He continues. "I… I gave her an option. Either I reject and she'll have to live with that ache in her heart until she forgets about it… or I erase her feelings for me down to the very bottom pit."

"She chose the latter."

…

"Sagami chose the latter. And, with her consent, I… did it. I erased her memory of me." He pauses. "At least before the time she 'loved' me."

He continues again.

"I do not want to hurt others. I've promised myself that I wouldn't…"

But I interrupted him. "S-So this isn't hurting her?" My voice cracked. I glared at him while gesturing at my sleeping friend hotly. "Huh? Are you trying to say that you haven't hurt her by… by… _defiling_ her mind like that, huh?"

He frowns.

"Are you telling me that y-you… you…" I struggled to find the words I wanted to say.

This man… this man sitting in front me…

I couldn't forgive him. I couldn't.

But at the same time I… I… I feel sorry for him.

"Sometimes, the alternative to pain is pain itself." I could see him shudder as he says that, almost as if he's disgusted at himself for saying those words. "I didn't accept her feelings because I know she'd be in a far greater pain later on down the road. I knew I would hurt her if I rejected her so, erasing her memories of me was the best solution I could come up with."

"...see how much of a solution that turned out to be." I just couldn't stop myself from making that remark.

"Heh, you don't have to tell me."

We ceased talking.

Just like how I have a lot running through my head, I'm sure that he has his share of things to think about.

But he's having a much easier time expressing them into words rather than me.

"I don't want to rob her off of a normal life. I don't want her to become a woman who has to worry about such superficial things like the ones I've mentioned… I… don't want to be that selfish anymore."

Whether or not that last part of his statement was intended or not, he manages to get his point across.

"But… those..." I tried to make my voice come out stronger. "Those are just reasons, Uzumaki-san."

I was not ready for the response I was about to receive.

"I know, and they're all I have."

The way he says it, it's… it sounds desperate; a whimper, more like. He sounds like he's no other options but to give reasons. For once, my heart ached when glanced at his azure orbs. They no longer express indifference or mischief.

No.

Those eyes… they are doing nothing but reflect genuine pain and struggles.

I see, through that set of eyes, a person who has been dealt with so many unfairness in life. And, despite it all, is still trying to go through the day smiling.

How? I asked myself.

How can I bring myself to… hate this man?

Never mind all the supernatural nonsense, because those mean little to me right now. I see a person, despite his elevated status as a being of existence, trying desperately to live a kind of life that I could never imagine myself ever living. Who am I to… to…

I-I don't know.

"...so what's going to happen from now on?" My voice came out in its barest volume it could muster.

"Well…" He leans back on his chair, stretching his arms sideways. "Quite a few things can happen, actually."

He continues.

"The first one is: we let Sagami wake up still with her memory void of me and pretend that this entire thing never happened. This is the most ideal outcome that I could think of. You don't say anything about this and I promise I'll never talk to you or Sagami ever again… I'll try my best, but no promise since class arrangement can be confusing as hell."

That's… true. And he says it's the most ideal?

"The second one… is… er… um." He clears his throat. "You won't like it… to say the least."

Despite the chilly crawling sensation I felt on my back, I motioned him to continue.

"I'll have to put a permanent, and an even stronger mental block on Sagami."

"And that means…?" I asked.

"There's a fifty percent chance of turning her brain into a vegetable."

"No." I deadpanned without missing a beat.

"I… know, which is why I hesitated there." He chuckles nervously. "Another one is simpler, actually. We wake Sagami up and let her know about what's happened for the past… thirty minutes or so."

I blinked.

"Wait." What? "Wait. _Wait wait wait._ " I lowered my head, bringing up one hand to clutch a growing migraine occurring on the side of my head. "You want to let Sagami-chan know _all of this_ after trying so hard to make her forget you?"

He laughs hollowly, leaving a smirk on his face.

"After talking here with you… I realized something. Sometimes, I just can't cover up the things that happened to me even with the things I could do. Nevermind my own mistakes; but even something as unexpected as a love confession can throw a wrench into my already stagnant life.

And… to my surprise, that very wrench that screwed everything up… it gives meaning, a reason, to something else entirely. Sure, it's… something that I can live without, but, hey, this is an immortal you're hearing these words coming out of, after all.

You see, I don't think that something like this could ever happen. I never thought that someone could have their supposedly erased memory come back to them like that. I've heard of something like that happening in the past but the chances of that happening is miniscule.

Sagami… she, I don't want to sound like an insensitive jerk who's tooting his own horn here, but, it's… it's been a very, _very_ long time ever since I've had someone say they love me. Heh.

I figured that, should we ever come up to that third conclusion, I'll be able to mend the bridge or completely burn that bridge between she and me. Just for the sake of fairness… although, if I have to speak honestly here, I'd rather we just choose the first one."

"Then why are you giving three options?"

"Honestly, it wouldn't be much of an option if I only had one, now would it?" He tilts his head, smiling.

I scoffed. "As if there was ever an option to begin with…"

"Aaaaand that's what I've been trying to tell you." He says. "There was no choice for me but to block Sagami's memories that are related to me. I personally… do not like it when I'm not given the option to choose; or not given any options at all! But I've had multiple lifetimes to have that realization hammered into my mind."

"But… people's memories." I muttered, my voice low. "It's just… not right. It's plain wrong. Even with consent it's just-"

"-unethical?"

He's smiling. I could see his lips stretching into a smile of amusement.

"Maybe I'm at fault here for causing this… misunderstanding, Ayano-san." What is he saying? What's there to misunderstand?

"What are you saying, what's there to misunderstand?"

He brings his palms together, pressing each fingertips into their respective counterparts and bouncing them in a rhythmic manner.

"Ethics… morals… do you know that several thousand years ago… these do not exist?" He asks me.

"The Dark Ages, The Middle Ages, or whatever you want to call it; I've lived through those times. And during those times, even before it, I've seen people commit downright heinous and the most detestable acts for something less. During those times, people were either too busy staying alive or indulge in whatever iniquity they had and couldn't be bothered to care about these things called morals and ethics.

Those few that did are either bigots or ambitious jokes with their heart at the right place, but their eyes at the wrong sight.

Now I'm not preaching about what's right and wrong. And, although it might sound like it, I'm not using my experience or its context to say that you are wrong in viewing what I did to Sagami as 'unethical' or even 'immoral'. If you think what I did was exactly that, then so be it.

But, just like you have your own version of what's right and wrong, I have mine too. And judging by… how far apart we are in terms of dealing with the shit that life ever so lovingly threw at us, I think we can justify that what I did as reasonable. After all, it's only natural to want and solve problems quickly."

"So… it's all a matter of how easy it would be for you to solve your problem?" Was my voice trembling? I thought so.

"On the surface, yes. But underneath, it's more than that. And you know why." He sighs, glancing downwards to the floor before redirecting his eyes back at me. "I'll say it again, I'm not going to rob a girl off her chance of having a normal life. And anything, _everything_ , with me involved is never normal and it never will."

He's right.

He's not normal even by special definition. And from the way he's been talking, I didn't think he considers himself human anymore. Now what? He's offering me these options… these choices to make for Sagami-chan.

A: She'll wake up not remembering anything, he'll try not to talk to any of us again and we'll both go on with our separate lives. I'll admit, it's the most ideal.

B: He use his weird… alien magic to mess around with Sagami-chan's brain and probably turn her into a vegetative state! Forget that!

Or C: He explains everything to Sagami-chan, risking her the eventual realization that she's never had a chance at love.

No… it's too cruel… these are too cruel, I can't do these.

It wouldn't be easy, would it? For Sagami-chan, I mean. Look at me, this person has told me that he's an immortal capable of doing… magic... or something and I'm still trying to put my head around that. How is that possible? Who is Uzumaki Naruto really?

See, those questions I know wouldn't be answered… and he's expecting to tell Sagami-chan about all of this. I don't want Sagami-chan to realize that her chance of being happy is crushed because the guy she has a crush on turns out to be an immortal who'll eventually outlive her, yet at the same time, Sagami-chan deserves to know everything!

"I'm thinking right now… obviously, Sagami-chan can't make the decision herself so… I think it's only right if we… let her…"

Wait.

Am I… seriously going to let my friend go through this?

What if she still doesn't give up on him? I know she can be persistent. But hiding everything from her just seems wrong on so many levels… but it'll protect her from the pain of having to realize that she's no chance of being with the person she loves.

This is such a fairytale. Fiction. I doubt anything like this has ever happened…

"I want to let her know! Wait, no, _gah!_ "

Uzumaki-san is staring at me knowingly. It looked like he knows exactly what I'm going through right now.

Then, Uzumaki-san's previous words came to mind:

' _Sometimes, the alternative to pain is pain itself.'_

Is… this it? Is this the only choice Sagami-chan has?

But thinking about it...it's kind of true, isn't it? Either way, Sagami-chan will be hurt or at least still hurt. And not letting her know will hurt her far less.

Because ignorance is bliss and all that.

But do I have any rights at all at making this decision for her? No, certainly… but I do have one thing; a choice.

I gripped the roots of my hair with both of my palms, putting in enough effort to cause pain. My eyes were shut tight and tears threatened to escape once again, but not due to my own pain. No. This was not something superficial.

After a few seconds, I let go. I let go of my hair, my hands dropping to my sides like puppets without strings. Slowly, I raised my hunched form to look at the man sitting in front of me, right on the other side of Sagami-chan's bed.

...I'm sorry Sagami-chan, I hope you can forgive me.

"Uzumaki-san."

He raises an eyebrow.

I really hope you can forgive me.

"I choose…"

* * *

 **First of all, I would like to say thank you to those of you who are understanding enough about this story's hiatus and also for having patience with me.**

 **It wasn't easy getting this chapter out, believe me. With all of the things that are going on in my life, both the good and bad, but mostly the bad things; I've considered that I might need to drop this series for good. However, that's not the case.**

 **I've decided to take up this story once more. Yes, as of now, this story will be out of its hiatus state and back to its constant probably-maybe-I'll update state. Now, I know that I've gotten rusty and most of that could be reasoned by the fact that writing's no longer something I do at my free time.**

 **Although I still write, yeah, but I don't think recipe costing counts as literature now does it?**

 **I can't promise you guys that I won't go on another hiatus some time else in the future, for all I know, I might just have to hold back writing again. And I know that my writing quality has… dropped, and to be honest, I never consider my writing as something special or above average in the first place. I mean, c'mon, the only reason why you guys are reading this is because of the usual overused tropes like immortal Naruto, potentially OP Naruto and Post-War story. And the fact that there were no active Naruto and Oregairu crossover stories in the site.**

 **But regardless of all of this, the lot of you who have left reviews, favorited and followed this story are real and it shows me that despite all of the things mentioned above, people still care about what I put out. And to a human being with at least half a heart, that's something very meaningful.**

 **I know that I've let people down before - guess what else is new - but I'm still going to try and publish more chapters for this series. I'm not forcing myself, really. I just feel like writing again.**

 **So, maybe, stay tune for more?**

 **-Rain**

 **P.S: Tenshin, you rock bro.**


	26. The Election of 2013

**Uh… if I had to sum up the reason why the chapter came out late in the form of a meme, it'd be like this:**

 **Readers: Hi, fanfiction?**

 **Me: Sorry, fanfiction machine broke.**

 **Readers: Understandable have a nice day.**

 **So, uh, yeah, hopefully you guys will say that...**

* * *

She feels pain. No. Not quite pain.

It's more like an uncomfortable aching sensation that continuously pulsates around her cranium area. However, the same sensation can be contributed as the primary reason why she is now awake. Her eyes, although opened, she's sure they're opened, cannot quite play their roles of seeing just yet; giving only blurry snippets of her surroundings. The ache also contributes to messing up with her sense of balance, because the moment she lifts her torso up, she falls back onto the mattress she is laying on.

"Ouch… ow ow ow… what… happened?" The words come out of her mouth just fine, looks like she doesn't have to worry about not being able to speak or her lips being too dry for her to do so; although they quite are.

"Sagami...chan?"

A voice. This prompts her to ever so slowly and drowsily turn her head towards the direction and origin of the voice. Her vision, through the help of repeated rubbing with the back of her sleeves, is steadily clearing; allowing her to make heads or tail of whoever it is that has called her.

"Aya...chan? Aya… is that you?" She asks, blinking repeatedly, in an effort to refresh her vision.

Sagami does not get an immediate reply. However, what she does get, is the sudden but warm embrace of her friend. Sagami feels the shorter girl's arms wrapped around her neck and her chin resting on her left shoulder, though she is so out of it that it takes her a few moments before she can realize what is happening.

"Aya-chan… what's going on, why am I in the infirmary?" Her voice comes out muffled by the fabric of her friend's uniform that has somehow constricts the vocal flow out of her mouth due to their embrace.

"I'm glad." The bespectacled girl murmurs, burying her eyes into the purple haired girl's shoulder. "I'm very glad…"

Sagami feels weak. She's too weak to question why is her friend suddenly crying on her much less ask questions related to herself. She doesn't know what to do, and doesn't have the energy to do anything like asking questions, so, slowly, she returns her friend's embrace, weakly wrapping her arms around the other girl's back.

Sagami sits there on the infirmary's bed, unsure of what has happened or is happening. All she can do is make circular stroking motions on the surface of her friend's uniformed back as an attempt to ease her ail. As her friend's weeping gets progressively louder, the infirmary's door suddenly slides open, revealing multiple faculty staff members including teachers.

"Sagami-san, you've woken up!" A middle aged woman with graying her rushes first into the room, dressed in an iconic white coat, she is the head nurse of the school.

"We heard you've fainted Sagami and that Ayano was the one who carried you to the infirmary." Another white coated woman enters, although she is much younger and youthful.

Kind of.

Hiratsuka Shizuka nearly had a heart attack when the head nurse of the school rushes into the faculty office telling everybody that a student has fainted and is unconscious. What make things even more alarming, it's someone she's in charge of; a student from her class. She and several other teachers such the P.E teacher and the Home Economics teacher, went along with the school nurse to look into problem in question, a.k.a Sagami herself.

"Whew…" A male P.E teacher breathes out as he enters the room. "All that walking around got even me sweating. Strange." He mutters.

"Isn't it? I thought I was the only one who felt tired…" The Home Economics teacher says as she supports herself on the door frame, wiping a bead of sweat that's threatening to drip down her forehead. "Weird."

"Anyway, Sagami, are you okay now? And why is Ayano crying?" The homeroom teacher of class 2-F walks closer to the bed, being careful not to hinder the nurse's attempt of comforting the crying girl.

Sagami turns her head slightly upward, meeting her teacher's face. Although Shizuka is able to recognize the confusion on her student's face, she can tell that the girl is conscious enough to respond to her.

"I-I'm fine, sensei." Her stuttering convinces Shizuka otherwise. "But… Aya-chan, why are you crying?" Sagami redirects her attention to her friend, who is still sobbing quietly to her shoulder, staining her white blouse with warm tears.

"I-I'm sorry… I'm sorry…!"

Ayano's cries are continuous repetition of an apology that Sagami has no idea about.

* * *

It takes a while for the teachers to comfort the weeping girl. Shizuka and the head nurse are conversing while the Home Economic teacher takes both girls into the counseling room for a session, although she's the one who is supposed to be doing it. The P.E teacher has taken the initiative to report back to the faculty room, leaving only the head nurse and her in the infirmary.

"It's got to be stress."

Shizuka's skeptic look is very understandable. "Stress? You're telling me high schoolers are prone to faint-inducing stress nowadays?" asks the teacher with a hint of incredulousness in her voice.

The aged nurse returns the younger woman's look with one of indifference. "Not just ordinary stress, of course. It probably has to do with something personal, maybe between her family members and when you bring that sort of weight to school… sometimes your brain just finds it easier to shutdown and reboot rather than having to cope with the strains."

"And need I remind you that all people handle stress differently, sensei?" The older woman asks, tilting her head with a flat expression.

"U-Urk…"

As methodical and professional the nurse's explanation is, Shizuka still finds it hard to believe that a simple six lettered word is the only conclusion to her student's condition.

"Then… what about Ayano?" the homeroom teacher of 2-F asks. "What's her deal?"

The older woman shrugs. "They're best friends, from the looks of it. You should know more about the student's relation, they are from your class after all, Hiratsuka-sensei." The nurse says flatly with a tilted head.

"G-Guh…" Coughing to her hand, the twenty six year old unmarried, lab coat wearing teacher looks away. "Still… neither girls are in condition to speak at the moment. Sagami because we're still unsure of her condition and Ayano… she's just catatonic, for the lack of better terms."

The nurse rolls her eyes. Obviously, there are better terms.

"So, bottom line, we'll have to excuse them for not coming to school the next couple of days… or just Sagami, at least." Shizuka says conclusively.

"I second that." The nurse nods approvingly. "Tell the faculty that I support this suggestion. If it's just stress, the girl will have time to talk things out with her family; maybe find a counselor too while she's at it." The woman pauses, before continuing. "I suggest sending them home now, since it's way past dismissal hours."

After hearing what the nurse has said, Shizuka prepares herself to leave the infirmary and return back to the faculty room to finish her paperwork.

"Oh and Hiratsuka-sensei, try not to pressure them too much. It's best to wait if they're not ready to tell anything."

Sighing, Shizuka wordlessly complies before leaving the infirmary.

* * *

I never believed in the greater good… or just the idea of things like good and evil being quantifiable in general. Call me a sage… an immortal, but I've learned that wisdom does not come by age. Good is good, evil is evil; it's as simple as that.

Humans are natural scholars, and with their scholastic brains, they need to create measurements, quantifiers; that can help them understand the worth of things. This is why everything in this world has their own respective values.

And with values, come choices.

And choosing between choices is not something we are all good at. Different people make different choices, even if they might seem similar at a glance. Like what to choose for lunch. Is it the tonkotsu pork belly ramen with extra thick broth and silky smooth noodles, or is it the filling and scrumptious large gyudon beef bowl with premium grade-A beef?

Between two choices, if it's based on personal preferences, beliefs, and something as fundamentally instilled like morals, people will most likely choose the latter; since it affects the way people look at them. Their image.

Especially when it comes to a matter of right or wrong.

A convict, guilty of criminal actions that no sane man would commit, is to be executed for his crimes. Is it right or is it wrong to execute the man?

Most people will say that it's wrong, saying that all human life is precious and people are worthy of second chances. Even against valid justification that the man is fully committed into committing the crime. The act of playing the defendant, the protectors, have always tugged a string at people's heart. Why? It's because humans want to believe that other people are capable of being selfless and virtuous.

I'm not saying that all people are like this. I believe that there are some rare cases out there that have truly realized and understood the value of human life, therefore making their defense very justifiable.

But to those people who choose to be good for the sake of being known as a good person? Those people are the worst.

They make me sick, frankly speaking.

…

Which is why, sometimes, due to people like these existing… it's understandable why executing that convict is completely okay. Both options, when seen from a third perspective would be like looking at a screen. Doesn't matter which is which. It's only wrong if: A, it doesn't align with your personal feelings, or B, it doesn't conform to the socially implemented virtues of our society.

Sadly, most of the times, it's both A and B.

"Ah, Maki, took you long enough."

I slide the club room's door shut, expelling a subtle breath of air. I give Yui a small smile and a thumbs up, saying, "All's good now, nothing to worry about."

I am expecting Yui to berrate me with questions regarding my departure and the whole entire thing with Ayano-san, but to surprise, Yukinoshita beat her to it.

"So, care to share what was it that you had to so 'privately' discuss with Ayano-san?"

I swear, woman, you're speaking with air quotes…

I shrug my shoulders while making my way to my spot. "Nothing that'll interest you, really… just something that needed settling from a previous conversation."

Urgh. I can feel their stares at me… I look way guiltier than Bill Clinton during his televised scandal response speech.

They're still looking at me even as I try to sit down. I can just not talk and they'll get the idea that I do not want to share anything regarding my conversation with Ayano, but that will be cheap of me. So I choose to speak anyway.

"It's… private and I don't really want to talk about it."

"O-Oh…" It's hard to miss Yui's obvious downcast expression and the disappointment of not knowing fading off her eyes. "That's fine, I guess, if it's private." despite all this, she still smiles. What a girl.

"I see." Yukinoshita closes her eyes, humming lowly. She then opens her eyes again, only this time, there's a smile on her face. "Very well then, we shall respect your decision."

...I'm relieved, almost, glad in a way. Would they still smile if I didn't say anything? If I choose to stay silent and not bother to make up a reason, will they still show the confirmation of their trust? Probably. They're both good girls, after all.

I feel the corner of lips tugging upwards slightly without my consent.

"Thank you." I say, almost like releasing a bated breath. _"Thank you."_ I say it again, only quieter.

After what happened before… I can safely say that this time - for now at least - the right choice has been made.

* * *

"Why… why were you crying, Aya-chan?"

Ayano turns her head, twisting it slowly so that she can face her friend who is walking beside her. Grim repopulates her face once again. It's an expression that she's grown accustomed of making. Yet despite it all, she tries to maintain a cool front… as cool as she can, at least.

"I was just…" Ayano struggles, lowering her head to avoid the returning look Sagami has just given her. "I was just very worried. Y-You…"

 _You lied._

 _You lied to her._

 _You're lying._

The bespectacled girl stops dead on her tracks, her body flinching as she comes to a halt. This surprises the purple haired girl walking beside her, causing an expression of worry to form on her face.

"What's wrong Aya-chan?"

Ayano feels a warm pair of hands grab her own left hand, causing her to glance at the girl standing right beside her. The warmness, however, contradicts the raging tundra-like turmoil she has inside her consciousness. She's glad. She's happy that her friend is back to normal. But this…

...this doesn't feel right.

Her lips quiver, but she quickly hides all signs that might further indicate her internal tribulations.

 _No… I've done enough._ _ **He's**_ _done enough._

Hardening her eyes, Ayano returns Sagami's gesture with her own, clasping her own hand over her friend's and this action surprises the purple haired girl.

"Sagami-chan, listen…"

 _I don't know how to approach this… she's alright now, she can start over new!_

Ayano parts her lips, but the words struggle to come out. "I-I'll… I'll be your friend." The brunette says quickly, almost desperate in conveying her message. "S-So, even if you're lonely, I'll still be here! We're all here! Me, Sawa-chan and Mei-chan! We're all here for you, so, e-even if you feel alone… _please…_ "

Her stuttered speech descends into a broken staccato, morphing into restrained sniffles which futily prevents her sobs.

"So… please… don't forget me... "

She wasn't there for Sagami during the school festival. If only she had been more aware, if only she paid attention more then surely she might've been able to prevent all of this from happening. As much as she wants to blame _him_ for all of this, she can't. It will be much easier, sure, but it's not going to solve anything.

Perhaps that reason is why she's putting all the blame on herself. If she had only been more observant, she could've prevented Sagami from experiencing all of this, thus ultimately sparing herself from making that choice.

 _Ah… I'm such an idiot…_

"Aya-chan."

With that, Sagami follows up with an embrace, replicating the action before in the infirmary. Although Ayano is not sobbing as loudly as before, Sagami comforts her just as much. They're not even a block away from school yet the same thing is already happening again.

The streets are fortunately desolate and quiet, allowing them to share the moment of comfort. Honestly, if it's otherwise, she's not sure if she'll hug her friend.

"I don't know what happened… but I feel like I haven't been feeling well lately, like, I wasn't myself." The taller girl mutters, her hand rubbing her friend's back, tracing circular motions. "I'm sorry if I worried you and the others too much… even if I want to remember, I can't remember anything."

Unnoticed by Sagami, Ayano's sobbing becomes slightly louder, muffled only by the sound of her uniform.

"But… I don't think it matters anymore." Sagami says. "Right now, I'm here. You're here. Mei-chan and Sawa-chan are here. So… that's all that matters to me right now."

Even in the midst of her best friend's hiccups and sobs, Sagami continue to comfort her.

"So it's okay… in fact, why are you crying anyway?" Sagami laughs. "It's not like you're the one who fainted."

"B-But…! B-But… I did do something b-bad." Ayano manages to stutter out. "And what's even worse, is that, I can't even tell you a-about what I did…!"

Hearing that, Sagami's lips pursed together, forming a small pout. That's right. Even earlier, during their time in the counseling room with the teachers, Ayano refused - no… refuse is such a strong word - she _held back_ from divulging any cause or reason as to why she was upset. Although, right now, Sagami's feeling rather motivated to find out why.

But, she decides against it.

"...it's fine."

"H-Hm?"

"It's fine." She smiles. "Even if you can't tell me, it's fine. Although I am, like, really curious about what is it you're hiding from me." At this, Ayano's heart sinks even more.

"I-I…" Ayano stutters, the grip of her hands on Sagami's uniform tightens. "I can't… even if I want to, I can't." She almost hisses through gritted teeth, hot tears escaping from her eyes.

"Un." Sagami nods. "That's fine."

Ayano grows quiet.

She wonders, why is it that he didn't erase her memories too? He certainly could have done that and she would be none the wiser. After all, he stressed the importance of secrecy for him. Yet here she is, still alive and conscious with the knowledge that there's an alien ninja immortal attending their school under the guise of one of their biggest troublemakers.

Ayano's grip tightens to the maximum, she grits her teeth together.

She cannot help it. Just thinking of him causes a spark of misplaced irritation and spite to start inside of her. There is no use blaming… after all, she's the one who had to decide things in the end. In a way, she's guilty too. And she'll have to live with this for the rest of her life.

Yes. Life.

Suddenly, she lets go of Sagami, grabbing said girl's attention.

"Are you okay now, Aya-chan?" asks the purple haired girl, now holding her school bag with both of her hands now that they're free from embracing her friend.

Using the back of her sleeves to wipe her eyes clear of tears, the bespectacled girl finally smiles. A small smile, but a smile nonetheless.

"Um. I'm fine now." She mutters, closing her eyes. Opening them again, she looks her friend right in the eyes. "Sagami-chan. I'm sorry. I'll say it as many times I could; I'm sorry. I can never, ever, _ever…_ tell you everything. It's too much to ask, I know, but if… if we can still be friends after this… that's all I want…"

Her eyes widen, then, they reverts back to their natural state. "What are you talking about, Aya-chan. Of course we're still friends. Sensei told me that you're the one who carried me all the way to the infirmary, so, thank you for that!"

The glasses wearing girl giggles. "It wasn't an easy thing to do, by the way."

"H-Hey… what do you mean by that?!"

"Ahaha!"

The two share a round of laughter, before eventually quieting down again.

"Ne, Sagami-chan?"

"Hm?"

Ayano does not immediately respond. Pursing her lips, the glasses wearing girl then finally opens her mouth to speak.

"Let's go somewhere tomorrow. The school will understand if you're off for tomorrow."

"Yeah, but not you."

Ayano grins. Sagami's eyes widened briefly. "Meh, screw it. I wanna spend the day hanging out with my friend tomorrow."

Looking a little bit shocked, Sagami then breaks into a fit of giggles. "What's this? You've never been like this, Aya-chan."

"Ahaha…"

The two best friends walk the rest of their evening off towards the distance, the direction of the town with the evening pastel colored sky above them while sharing both laughter and words. The wind brushes past the scenery, bringing dust up into the air and blowing it away. As the surrounding neighborhood is already empty, the distant sound of traffic noises from the commercial sector of the town ahead can be heard all the way to here.

Around this time of the day, primary and even secondary schools have dismissed their students for the day; though there are exceptions. In Soubu, to one club in particular, three club goers have just made their way to the school's gate. A trio of teenagers, two of them female and one male.

"Puuaaah!" The pinkette of the trio stretches her arms sideways while holding her school bag and releasing air through her mouth. "Today felt like a very long day for some reason."

"Hm, it certainly does." This time, a more decorous and composed voice speaks in response to the pink haired girl's statement. With her bag on her side, she continues speaking. "I see it's not just me who felt it."

"Maa, maa, let's just go already. I wanna grab some food…" A much deeper and masculine voice half yawns and half whines, coming from the middle of the two girls.

"Ah, food! Let's go eat somewhere guys, how about that cat cafe?"

"Eeeh… are you sure it's open this time?" The male of the group shoots a skeptic look at the pinkette.

"I-I'm sure! Stupid Maki, trust me a little bit will you…"

"Well, I did a double check just now…" the other girl returns her phone to her blazer's pocket. "And it seems that Yuigahama-san is right this time. It's open and does not require any advance booking."

"Well, uh, yeah. What do you think the place is, huh? Some sort of bistro or something?" The boy snorts, earning a mild glare from the second girl.

"Hey, guys, anyway, let's go already… I'm hungry too…" The first girl whines.

"Yeah, Yui's right." The boy sighs, abandoning all trace of hostility he has for his counterpart. "I'm starving. Hope that place serves big portions." He then smirks. "Although Le Prez over here will have her hands full handling all those puss-oof!"

With her fist stuck into his gut, Yukinoshita grits her teeth. "I can… assure you that it will not come to that point." She says that but she's blushing.

"Ahaha… don't fight you two, c'mon~!"

The Service Club members are very close as usual.

* * *

"Alright, so-"

I never know that this day would come.

"-everything's dealt with. The election results are all in - if you can call a one man candidate as an election in the first place - and Isshiki's basically future student council president confirmed."

First of all, Hiratsuka-sensei knocked when she entered the room earlier, surprising not only me but Yui and Yukinoshita too. Secondly, she's not wearing her lab coat. Yes, the latter is what surprised me more! Instead, she's wearing a purple buttoned blouse and a black pleated skirt.

And, dude, let me tell you, she has a fantastic leg game going on right now…

"Whoa… sensei, you're all pretty and stuff!" Yui that's actually rude.

"Oho? Does that mean that I'm not pretty before, Yuigahama?" Hiratsuka-sensei's tone takes a sickly sweet turn, her smile is nothing but threatening. Oh, and it's hot too, I guess.

"G-Geh…! N-No! Totally, no!" Yui makes the mistake of talking smack about the person that grades your paper, not to mention sensei's our homeroom teacher too. "It's just a fresh look to look at!"

"I'll have to agree with Yuigahama-san, sensei." Meanwhile, Ice Queen over here is looking at our club advisor with mildly interested eyes. With her hand holding her chin, she sends Hiratsuka-sensei a studious stare. "You do look fresher. Younger, even."

"R-Really?" Uwaah… this woman looks genuinely happy at the compliment. Man… someone take her already, it's sad seeing her reacting so happily at a simple compliment like that.

But, hey, I suppose they're both right. She does look more… eye catching than usual.

Man, I can only imagine how the guys reacted when they saw her walk in the halls to here. Since today's a special day, a day dedicated solely for the future student council election, we're only having half day class. Awesome, right?

Although, it's not as awesome for us as it is for the rest of the regular students, I suppose. We're involved with the planning and things, since we're basically Isshiki's sponsor, although the current student council is the one leading the entire debacle so that's a plus, I guess.

Yeah. Today's been good so far.

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Hm, what? Why are you guys looking at me like that?" I don't have something on my face, do I? Komachi wasn't at my place to doodle all over my face… again.

Then, simultaneously, all female presence within the room sighs.

"Haa… Maki you're so dense." Wah?

"As thoughtless as ever, Uzumaki-kun. Are you even capable of processing thoughts in the first place?" Oi!

"...haaaaah." Uwah, that's a very serious sigh! She looks depressed too for some reason! "...tch!"

She clicked her tongue! Right there! You heard that right?!

"Maa… anyway," recomposing herself, our club advisor reassumes her usual persona once again, "we're going to be talking with faculty members, the student council and the principal himself. So, although it's pointless since you three are good kids, behave yourself. Remember, Isshiki's still our client and it's our responsibility to see this through the end."

The three of us nod our heads, obviously, we're going to go through this. After the amount of work we all put with that troublesome brat Isshiki… man, I feel like I should be getting paid for dealing with sly female juniors in school.

Then that'll beat the whole purpose of this club.

Huh.

Can we ask for donations, though?

"This goes without saying, sensei." Our club president replies, straightening her sitting posture making herself look all the more dignified.

"Everything regarding the election itself has been pretty much settled, thanks to our resident delinquent-

"Oi!"

"-and troublemaker." She doesn't even bother hiding her smile. "All that's left is to assist Isshiki-san with the more unmediated details such as her speech."

"Man… Iroha-chan's going to have a lot of work waiting to be done. I actually feel sorry for her." Yui comments, slumping down her body so that it's resting on the table. She'll ruin her posture by doing that but I get to see a little bit of cleavage so I'm not complaining.

Ah, fuck, that reminds me. I'm the one who convinced Isshiki to become president. Shit. Now that kid's going to make me take responsibility… oh no, I can already imagine the kind of shit that I'll have to put up with.

"Hm? Why do you look sad, Maki?" Yui asks.

"Fuaah…" I breathe out through my mouth, letting a sigh escape. "I'm just coming to terms with what's about to happen eventually."

"Eeh… why does it sound so ominous, Maki?" Yui asks, eyeing me suspiciously.

Oh trust me, it is. "Nah, nothing."

I can't afford to let Yui and Yukinoshita suffer from Isshiki's cheekiness. That kid, young as she may be, is actually far more cunning than Yukinoshita. As much as I don't want to get involved with whatever it is that Isshiki's going to eventually make me do, I have to go and hand it to that kid.

From what I've heard, she - with the help of Shiromeguri-senpai of course - has picked her cabinet members already. Looks like she actually went out of her way to think about this too, makes me relieved a little bit. Okay, yeah, so what if I didn't trust her that much at first?

And it's not like she's gonna be completely alone in it either. After all, her dependable senpais are right here after all.

"Uwaaah Maki, you had like a really gross face for a second there. Like an overly proud dad who can't keep quiet about his kid getting an A on his test scores."

"Oh? I thought it has been firmly established that Uzumaki-kun's facial feature is-"

"Oi, oi, oi can you guys not? Hiratsuka-sensei is still here…" The audacity of these girls, even with sensei around, they still don't hold back?!

"Ehh… so this is what you guys are like whenever I'm not around, huh? Nice work, Uzumaki, you even got Yukinoshita talking. Although, I agree with Yuigahama, it was pretty gross."

"God damn it!"

What is it, huh?! Is today 'Bully Naruto Day' or something?!

After they're finished giving me the roast of the century, we make our way to the faculty room. An entourage of our own, led by Hiratsuka-sensei. I kinda have to admit, it's nice to have people look at you as if you're some sort of important person. Yeah, that's the kind of thought I have when the other students move aside to let us walk on the way here.

Entering the faculty room, it's been rearranged to accommodate the sheer number of people that will be here later. Desks are put aside to allow space in the middle, basically the same arrangement as the one in the meeting room. So, uh, why don't we just do the meeting in the meeting room and not here?

Meh, ain't gonna question it.

Inside, there are several familiar faces. I say several although I kind of recognize them all; there are some teachers who I'm not really familiar with so I'll omit them out.

From the corner of my eye, I can already spot the star of the whole debacle; Isshiki herself. She notices our presence and does a wave that's supposed to make her look cute and adorable or something, although it won't work on me since I've seen how foxy she can be.

Yui, as expected, returns the gesture with a cute wave of her own. Yukinoshita briefly acknowledges the future student council president's presence with a brief nod and Hiratsuka-sensei is already on her seat the moment Isshiki notices us. Me? I give her wink, which grosses the hell out of her judging from the disgusted expression she's making right now.

Isshiki is not alone. She's accompanied by an entourage of her own, much like how we are with Hiratsuka-sensei.

Shiromeguri-senpai, bless her soul, is present which is logical considering that she's the current student council president. There are three students who I have never seen before, I think, and it seems like they are Isshiki's new co-workers.

Man… it ain't even their time yet, but I feel sorry for them already.

"Now that we are all here, we can begin the meeting."

We approach our labeled seats. Well, only the new student council members and some of the teachers have their seats labeled; Yukinoshita, Yui and I just take whatever space there is near Hiratsuka-sensei.

And what follows is a session of whomever-the-fuck cares about. Basically, the principal wants to hear the progress of things himself and that is all they tell him. Isshiki and Shiromeguri-senpai do most of the talking and I have to say that I am surprised Isshiki can speak so well. I guess I have been underestimating her all this time. This cheeky little fox of an underclassman of mine turns out to be more than meets the eye.

And that actually reassures me somehow. Komachi plans on entering Soubu, so, the least that I can do is secure a capable student council president for her.

Stretching my arms, it takes everything I have in me to not express just how boring the last thirty minutes was.

"Ah, senpai, Yukinoshita-senpai, Yui-senpai!"

If it isn't miss president-elect herself.

"Iroha-chan, yahallo!" Again. Looks like it's still going on.

"Yahallo!"

Walking over to us, miss soon-to-be president waves her cute little hand at us.

"Thank you so much for attending this meeting senpai, even though you guys didn't really have to."

"Think nothing of it, Isshiki-san." Our club rep says with a slight smile. "This is a part of our agreement and we intend to see through this until the very end."

"You don't have to make it sound like she's running for a real election, Yukinoshita." I roll my eyes, making myself look more like a jerk than usual. "It's scary to picture what she'll do with that kind of power."

"Oh I know what I'll do alright," Isshiki huffs, crossing her arms going all 'tsun' on us, "and it'll involve not allowing mean, blonde haired whisker faced senpai's from bullying cute, adorable student council presidents ever."

I shrug. "See? She's already demanding the impossible."

"Are you saying that you'll be bullying me from now on, senpai?" She bows low, like, a formal bow. "I'm sorry for what I said but don't think that we'll have a chance of hitting it off just because we have this sort of senpai-kouhai relatio-OW!"

"M-Maki hit a girl!"

"As expected from a brute."

I scoff. "Puh-lease." I rub the finger that I used to flick Isshiki's forehead with. "It wasn't even a hit."

But I still dealt +5 damage to her, I suppose.

Level Up!

"Owowowow… senpai, I didn't really expect you to bully me for real." Oh now she's whining. "What will become of our beautiful relationship from here onwards, senp-AAAAIIIEEE!"

"You ever heard the phrase 'be careful what you wish for?' Isshiki?" I rub my middle finger this time. It actually hurts a little.

Grinning, I flex the fingers on my right arm. "They made an entire Disney sitcom based on that saying starring Selena Gomez back in two thousand seven."

"I never knew Maki and Iroha-chan are this close…"

She must have intended to say it for herself, but those of us near her - pretty much ALL OF US - hear her loud and clear. Good job Yui. Good job.

"But I don't think I'm liking this closeness of ours, Yui-senpai…" Whine all you want brat, I'm going to make sure that you're doing your job properly.

"S-See! He's looking at me while smiling like that, help me Yukinoshita-senpai!"

"Yeah ple-OW!"

Yukinoshita! What the hell?!

"Not to worry Isshiki-san," she waves the hand that she used to pinch my cheeks with, "we will make sure to tighten the leash on this one."

"Oi, I'm not the club's dog."

"Ara? Who says that you're a dog?"

Oh, looks like she's being reasona-

"You're a cat, Uzumaki-kun. A cat."

-ble… nevermind.

"Hm? But I don't think you're supposed to put cats on a leash, Yukinon."

"You're going along with her?!" I snap at Yui.

Isshiki tags along with us out of the room but it's only her. It seems that she's completely abandoned her committee already. I was right to feel sorry for them.

"Anyway, I'm gonna grab some grub from the cafeteria. Ciao."

"Wait, Maki!"

Woman you interrupted my ciao!

Sighing, I turn my head and face the young lady who has her hand placed firmly on my shoulder.

"What is it?" I'm not gonna hide it. If I sound like I'm irritated that's because I am. And hungry.

"Let's go eat in the club room!" Her eyes are sparkling. Urgh, Yui's sparkly eyes, one of my many weakness.

But I don't see what's wrong with the suggestion. I do spend a lot of time in that unused classroom. I shrug. "Sure."

"Great! You can join us if you want too, Iroha-chan!" Oh geez, she's already romping up another victim here.

"U-Uh…" Try not to look into her eyes, Isshiki, you won't be able to resist it. "I think I'll have to say no to that, Yui-senpai. I think Shiromeguri-senpai and the others are looking for me."

Woman, it's your fault in the first place for leaving them.

"Ah, is that so? Okay then…" Oh god, not the droopy eyes. "See ya later then, Iroha-chan, and good luck!"

Isshiki salutes playfully, smiling. She also gives Yukinoshita a nod and is returned in courtesy. Then, when she faces me, she sticks out her tongue before turning a perfect one eighty and bolts off through the halls.

"That brat…!"

* * *

"Is this the last box?"

"Hm? Ah, yeah, yeah. Just put them down over there."

"..."

"Hm? Don't you hear me, senpai? Just put it down there, vice president-kun will sort it out later."

Oi, at least remember your council members' names.

It's been exactly a day after Isshiki got formally elected as the Student Council President. Her inauguration was unexpectedly… normal and it went along smoothly just as the event organizers intended. The Service Club barely lend their hands into it, something I'm not complaining about. We're just glad that this is all over with and I can guess that Isshiki feels the same way.

Placing the overly stuffed cardboard box that I have been carrying all the way from the storage room on the folding table Isshiki is using to support her weight, which isn't that much, I make myself at home in this soon-to-be student council office and drag a nearby chair for myself.

"Tough day?"

The moment the sigh escapes her lips, I can tell that I am right.

"You know, senpai, at first, I thought it wasn't going to be that bad. Student council president. Doing paperwork. Attend club budget meetings. Help plan events."

I can feel the life escaping from her very being as she speaks.

"I can handle those. I've done most of those as the soccer club's manager, in fact. But then I realized that I can't _**not**_ do paperwork, attend club budget meetings or help plan events. I have to. I have to do these things on the daily and this is what I'll be doing for the rest of my high school life until this job gets passed down to the next guy or girl who's _unfortunate_ enough to have some _blonde haired senpai_ sweet talk them into taking the job."

"You got something to say to me then say it! You don't have to be all passive aggressive like that!" I abruptly rise from my chair, raising a shaking fist.

Rather than acting childish and blow raspberries at me, the newly appointed student council president gives me a smile that reminds me of a certain older Yukinoshita.

"Ah, but I'm not complaining or anything senpai."

"Like hell you weren't."

"Really, I'm not complaining." She stretches her arms upwards, the soft sound of her bones cracking is audible to me. "I'm just saying what I feel about this whole thing. It might sound like I'm complaining, senpai, but I'm not; really."

I can be sceptical about this, but I don't see why I should. It's understandable that Isshiki is finding the whole 'being a student council president' thing a hassle, it's her first day after all. And with the kind of workload waiting for her, I can't blame her.

"Well, it's not like you're in it alone Isshiki. You have your committee with you and the service club to rely on." I sigh out, perching my chin on my palm. "Although I'll appreciate it if you don't rely on us too much."

"Muu… you _almost_ sound reliable there, senpai."

"Hey, I _am_ reliable."

My foxy junior giggles, hiding her lips behind her sleeve. "Haaah… yeah, I suppose you are, senpai."

W-Why are you making such a faraway expression like that, Isshiki?! If you're teasing your senpai it's bad! Minus fifty points! Minus!

Now the both of us aren't saying anything. I blame it on the perfectly calming mood we have right now. It's technically recess, but some classes are still ongoing. Aside from several second year classes, class is still ongoing for everyone. My class has been assigned to help out with the clean up on the auditorium. Thankfully, I'm not one of the poor sods that has to do that; I have it easy and nice, just like I wanted. Although I won't mind helping since they're paying us with food.

"You mind if I turn on the AC?" I ask, holding the remote with my hand.

"Ah, sure, sure."

The beeping sound that the sensor makes as it registers the IR light which ultimately turns on the air conditioning unit is fleeting in existence. By the time we know it, we're already feeling warm air blowing on us. Modern air conditioning is such a blessing, but those heat lamp ones aren't that bad either.

"Y'know, Komachi is gonna apply for Soubu next year."

"Hah? Komachi? What's that, food?"

"No, you idjit, she's my unrelated little sister."

"Siscon?"

" _No."_

Then, Isshiki does a double take. "Wait, unrelated?" she asks me with confused expression on her face. "How does that work, senpai?"

"She's not my little sister. In fact, we aren't related at all." I wave her suspicious expression off. "She's my… boss's daughter and we happen to be close."

"But to consider her your little sister…"

Hm? Can't quite hear you if you're mumbling like that, Isshiki. "What was that?"

"N-Nothing." Your face is red, Isshiki. Is it too hot for you? You can just turn the heat down if you want to. The remote's right here. "Heeh… so senpai has a younger girl he's close to, huh?"

I snort. "What, you really think you're the only younger girl I know?" Sorry to say but you're not, Isshiki.

"Hmm… not really, but you can't deny that I'm your favorite younger girl that you've ever known, right senpai?"

Uwaaah… her sickly sweet tone is making me cringe. And I did. I cringe. "Guh, you wish. Komachi is still cuter than you anyway." I subconsciously huff, crossing my arms on the table.

"Eeeeh…? Really? Then I guess I'll just have to meet Komachi-chan myself."

Yeah, I guess you'll have to-wait.

Wait. _Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait._

Isshiki… meeting Komachi?

Countless of bad scenarios began to play in my head should these two ever meet up in person. I can feel my face morphing into grim realization, something that Isshiki will eventually notice, which is why I quickly brush it off.

"Hm, just don't talk to her too much. You'll corrupt her with your foxiness." I warn her.

"See? Aren't you being a siscon, senpai?"

"Nope, I'm just doing what any older sibling would do when their little sisters are potentially capable of being corrupted by foxy student council presidents."

"How mean!"

* * *

When I say today has been a long day, I am not kidding.

Today is a long day. Heck, the past few weeks have been long; the longest I've ever experienced as a high school student, in fact. Never mind the whole deal with Sagami and Ayano, that's probably the least memorable part, but Isshiki's coronation has been taking a toll on the entire school faculty and not just us volunteers.

I'm not tryin'a make it sound like it's Isshiki's fault for being president and causing a hassle for everyone else, because ultimately, that'll mean that I'm also at fault because I'm the guy who convinced her to take the job in the first place.

Huh, shit's starting to go full circle.

But anywho, if there's someone or people to blame, it's the school itself. Soubu's reputation for being one of the most prestigious school in Chiba requires itself to be… a pain in the ass for the most parts. So things like school festivals, student council election or any important event at all must be done with the utmost effort.

I mean, shit, if the school festival wasn't bad enough; I can only imagine if they decided to throw a ball or some shit. That'd be lovely to organize.

But none of that matters right now. Right now, I'm in the club room chilling with my earphones on and my laptop playing my favorite playlist.

And boy oh boy, I'm really enjoying the **_AESTHETIC_** right now.

 _Skrrr… bang._

"Oh, Maki, you're here."

...and just like that, my enjoyment is short lived.

I don't have the volume playing that high, which is why Yui's entrance into the room disrupts my peace and quiet. I give her a half lidded stare, a small frown fixed on my face.

She notices this, which explains why she's walking towards me with a pout on her face.

"You don't have to make that kind of face Maki."

I roll my eyes. "Just sit down already, you're disrupting the mood." I shrug my shoulders.

Huffing, and still pouting, our resident eye candy childishly pulls out a chair, bringing it next to me. She unfolds the chair and sets it so that she's now sitting beside me. She is still not facing me, her cheeks puffed out like mochi tinged with a little bit of redness.

I resist a chuckle. She is kind of adorable.

"...ne, what are you listening to?"

Again, adorable.

Pulling out one of the earphone buds, the one easier for Yui to use, I hold it out to her. "Wanna hear?"

"O-Okay."

She slowly places the earphone bud on her ear, sharing the music I'm listening. Slowly, I observe as her expression changes. It transforms from unfamiliar exposure to mild confusion, then she begins to settle in, letting the music overcome her.

"I never know you listen to this kind of music, Maki." She comments as I browse through documents that needed filing. "What genre is this?"

"It's a bit complicated." I say, scratching my chin with my free hand. "This playlist contains several genre of music, most of them are lo-fi hip-hop, DnB, vaporwave and all that. These ones specifically aren't very popular."

"Oh… but there's no lyrics at all though." Is that a complaint I hear?

"Well, yeah." I pause my browsing to look at Yui who has her eyes wandering the ceiling for some reason or another. "I mean, why would they? They're good enough as it is."

I mean, it's better than having some tool repeating the same fucking words for the whole entire duration of the song.

"Why? Is it boring for you?" I ask.

"What? N-No! It's just… unexpected, I guess." I raise an eyebrow, indicating her to elaborate. "I mean, just like you said before, these songs aren't really popular; so I kind'a expect you to listen to the more popular ones, y'know?"

"I do listen to some, but they don't really suit the mood especially with how… _noisy_ most mainstream songs can be."

"Ah, I get you, I get you."

Now, the two of us return to silence, with the only thing accompanying us the music smoothly playing in our ears and the constant ticks and tacks that my keyboard is making as I type. The yellowish orange and purple sky is visible through the windows of the room, illuminating the room with a soft evening glow. It's a little bit chilly, since we're almost entering that time of the season, but not too cold to a point where I'll have to blast the A/C on full power just in case Yui gets too cold.

This period of silence I can cherish. It really feels different from all those times of having to type away all by myself in a studio apartment with the lights turned off. Having the company of your club mate isn't so bad after all.

"You know, Maki…"

Yui's sudden call snaps me out of my thoughts. "What?" I ask.

"I just realized… if you hadn't convinced Iroha-chan to become student council president… then there's a high chance that Yukinon will be elected as the student council president."

Oho?

"What makes you say that?"

"I-I mean!" She stutters. "Yukinon's a very smart girl! The teachers like her and if she ran for president I'm sure a lot of people would've voted for her!"

Unfortunately, I can't say that they'll be doing it out of the goodness of their heart, Yui. Much like what happened with Isshiki, Yukinoshita Yukino has people that don't particularly like her.

"And if Yukinon became student council president… she won't have any time to spend with us in the club."

Ah. I see.

Yui has a smile on her face. But I can't say it's one of happiness. No. It is of happiness, just not the right kind.

It's the smile of someone who is relieved.

"I'm just… glad that I can get to be in the club with you and Yukinon. When I figured this whole out, I was very, very glad that Iroha-chan ended up being president. I-I know it's selfish… but I'm just glad."

Yeah, it's selfish alright.

"So… thank you Maki."

This time, she's looking at me with glistening eyes. The melancholy remains, but it has been alleviated with sincere gratitude. This is sincerity in its purest form.

"Thank you for saving this club."

At… first, I don't know what to say. I'm sitting here, clueless and completely unsure on how to respond. But then, I realize, I don't have to.

"Ow!"

"Yui you idjit." My tone takes on a scolding tone. The motion that I make causes the earphone jack to disconnect from the laptop, letting the music freely flow and roam all throughout the room.

"H-Hey! What did I do?!" She makes a troubled expression. Shit. I think she might be crying again this time.

"You became an idjit, Yui." I flatly say, sighing soon after. Turning my posture, I also shift my chair and seating position to completely face her. "Look, here, Yui."

I look at her in the eye.

"There's no need to thank me. I did it because there was no other easier way. If we let Yukinoshita run for president, she'll work us to the bones and not letting us go even if we beg and cry for mercy. And when she becomes president, which will ultimately happen if she ran for the position in the first place, she'll make us her committee! Can you imagine how hellish that'd be, Yui? Having to be at the beck and call of a devil superwoman like her and imagining that someone like that having the authority of a student council president? Man I shudder. I. Freaking. Shudder, Yui."

Yui's expression slowly transforms into a 'what the fuck'.

"And that's not the worst part. Eventually, we'll have to do student council stuffs which is like TWICE the trouble compared to the things we're already doing. I'll tell you what I told Isshiki; remember what Uncle Ben said, great power begets great responsibility; and Yukinoshita is a fucking tyrant even without student council president privileges. I'm not normally the type of guy to choose between two evils, in fact, if I have to, I'd rather not choose at all; but in this case, Yui, I'd rather suffer under Isshiki's dictatorship rather than that devil superwoman's tyran-"

"Ohoho…"

Oh. Fuck.

My body freezes all over. I look at Yui with a deadpan expression.

"She's right at the door, isn't she?"

Yui nods her head very slowly.

"How long?" I ask Yui, my voice as dry as sandpaper.

"Ever since you start talking about Yukinon working us to the bones and not letting us go even if we beg and cry for mercy?"

"That's right from the beginning!" I turn my body to face the person standing under the door frame. "Y-Yukinoshita, I can expla-"

"No. There's no need, Uzumaki-kun." Rather than a furious expression, our club president has a very wide smile on her face. Something which is twelve times scarier than fury. "I heard you loud and clear and it seems that you have some… bottled up opinions that you want to share regarding my humble self."

She slowly makes her way towards us. Towards me. My ninja instinct is screaming at me to run, because fuck me for triggering a woman's righteous fury.

"Let's have a little chat shall we, Uzumaki-kun? It's the service club's duty to listen to people's troubles, after all. Even their own members."

Woman your Yandere tendencies are showing! Have you been taking lessons from Katsura Kotonoha?!

"Y-Yukinoshita, you're scaring me!" I turn to look at Yui. "Yui hel-THAT BOOBHEAD RAN AWAY!"

"Now, now Uzumaki-kun. Today's service club counseling service is in session, please take a seat."

"N-No! You can't make me!"

"Sit. Now."

My body just went full Inuyasha on the chair.

For the next hour, Yukinoshita and I discussed just how important trust and image is in the context of an interpersonal relationship and then she proceeds to berate and insult me, saying how I have none of those two aforementioned things.

Today was a long day.

* * *

 **Bruh, that feeling when you have to deal with workplace racial harassment… But never mind that. Most of the stereotypes the guy mentioned was right anyway.**

 **So, anyway, this was it for this chapter. I know I kind'a 'axed' the whole bit with Sagami but I think it's the best way to end it without causing any future problems.**

 **This chapter concludes Isshiki's election as student council president and it might seem too fast, which it is, but the anime wasn't exactly detailed about the election too.**

 **Lastly, I'm going full OOC now. I have come to fully accept just how much of a rebel I am and after having being 'woke af' by day to day experience, I've come love myself and believe in myself more.**

…

 **Yeah, forget that last part.**

 **This was it for this chapter, see ya on the next one.**


	27. Notice me senpie

Hullo, it is I, AK-103.

Now, don't hide, before you guys accuse me for abandoning this story once again; let me tell you something:

I bring good news. Well, sort of, but still news regardless.

It has come to my attention that this particular story of mine, a result of boredom and countless nervous breakdowns during procrastination, has garnered the attention of… 216,976 views from people. While I do not know how accurate FF's countings are, the numbers still speak for themselves.

A lot of you like this story, judging by the thousand plus favorites and follows that this story has. And I appreciate that, I really do. But unfortunately, I'll have to take one from Akemi Homura's book and rewind things a little. Okay, maybe not a little-a lot, yeah, I'm gonna have to rewind things a lot.

What I'm trying to say is that I'm gonna redo this story.

Yes.

Will it be different? Certainly, but the concept will be the same more or less. Still an immortal Naruto stuck in the ever stagnating lifestyle of a youthful high school student. As for major changes? Yeah, there'll probably be some.

Will it be better?

I… can't promise you guys anything. All I can do is promise you that a 'redone' version will be uploaded soon. How soon? I don't know. Do I know anything? No. Do I care how much I know? Yeah… actually.

And, uh, don't worry. This one particular story won't be deleted. It'll be marked as finished and be put in the archives for browsing purposes.

I guess that's it. That's all I wanna say.

I'm not expecting you guys to stick with me at this point, I'll be surprised if you do honestly, and that's fine. Why? Because this time, I'm going to write for myself.

Yes! That's it! Screw you guys, I'm going to make my own Naruto-Oregairu story with blackjack and hoo-

Sincerely,

Rain

P.S: But, no, seriously guys, thank you for the journey on this ride. It's time to ditch it and go for a new one on an even newer ride.


End file.
